Bangladesh’s only state-owned oil refinery, Eastern Refinery Limited, has resumed full-scale operations after a 24-day closure due to a shortage of crude oil. The main plant restarted production on Friday morning following the arrival of a crude oil shipment from Saudi Arabia. Initially, the refinery will process 4,000 tons of fuel oil daily, with plans to increase capacity to 4,500 tons by Saturday afternoon. The shutdown began on April 14 when crude supplies were disrupted by restrictions on ship movement through the Strait of Hormuz amid conflict in the Middle East.

During the closure, a small unit continued limited production using remaining stock, supplying 120 tons of diesel and 100 tons of petrol daily. The government arranged alternative shipping routes to import crude oil via Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu port, leading to the arrival of the MT Ninemiya tanker carrying 100,000 tons of crude. Maintenance was performed on machinery during the downtime, allowing for a smoother restart.

Energy experts have urged the government to diversify crude sources and expand storage capacity from the current 600,000 tons to 1.6 million tons to strengthen energy security.