Pipeline Ready to Transport Fuel from Chattogram to Dhaka

Chattogram-Dhaka Fuel Pipeline to Launch August 16, Set to Save Tk 200cr Annually

After three successful trial runs, the long-awaited Chattogram-Dhaka fuel pipeline is set to be inaugurated on August 16, according to the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC).

“Several trial runs of diesel supply from Chattogram to Godnail in Narayanganj have been completed successfully. We’ve fixed August 16 as the commissioning date,” BPC Chairman Md Amin Ul Ahsan told The Daily Star.

The test runs, conducted in late June, delivered 32,000 tonnes of refined diesel over three days via the 250-kilometre pipeline connecting Patenga in Chattogram to Godnail depot.

The pipeline has two sections: a 241.28-km, 16-inch diameter mainline running through Feni, Cumilla, Chandpur, and Munshiganj to Godnail; and an 8.29-km, 10-inch segment extending to Fatulla. It crosses 22 rivers and canals, including 10 major rivers, with much of the pipeline buried under riverbeds.

Once operational, the project is expected to save BPC around Tk 200 crore annually by cutting fuel transport costs, according to officials.

Currently, refined diesel is pumped from Padma, Meghna, and Jamuna oil company tanks in Patenga directly to Godnail. BPC officials report smooth, complication-free operations so far. The pipeline includes nine pumping stations.

Imported fuel currently arrives at Chattogram port and is distributed across the country via feeder vessels and then by river, rail, or road—a system vulnerable to oil theft, navigational delays, and seasonal disruptions.

In FY 2023–24, Bangladesh moved 54 lakh tonnes of fuel by water, including 27 lakh tonnes from Chattogram to the Godnail and Fatulla depots using more than 110 ships per month.

Annual river transport volumes of diesel on this route were:

• FY 2024–25: 13.44 lakh tonnes

• FY 2023–24: 12.80 lakh tonnes

• FY 2022–23: 14.79 lakh tonnes

• FY 2021–22: 13.86 lakh tonnes

• FY 2020–21: 12.28 lakh tonnes

All deliveries used small vessels via inland waterways, still the main route for diesel shipments to the capital.

To operate the pipeline, the construction contractor’s engineers are gradually transferring control to Pipeline Transmission Company Limited (PTCPLC), a new BPC entity.

The pipeline can transport 350 tonnes of fuel per hour and maintain a 27,000-tonne diesel reserve. Its full capacity is 50 lakh tonnes annually.

Approved in October 2018, the project was originally slated for completion by December 2020. Delays pushed the deadline first to December 2022 and later to December 2024.

The Tk 3,699 crore project was built by the Bangladesh Army’s 24th Engineer Construction Brigade, funded by BPC. The initial budget was Tk 2,861 crore.

According to BPC, the new pipeline will enhance national energy security, cut system losses, reduce transportation costs, and speed up fuel delivery to Dhaka.

This is the country’s second major underground fuel pipeline project, after the 110-km Single Point Mooring (SPM) line connecting the deep sea off Moheshkhali to the Eastern Refinery in Chattogram.

Although the SPM was successfully commissioned in April 2024 and formally handed over in August, the Tk 8,000 crore project remains idle due to the lack of an operations and maintenance contractor.