Representational Image.

CHATTOGRAM, Aug 14, 2025 (BSS) - The country is set to formally launch its 
first-ever underground pipeline-based fuel transportation facility from 
Chattogram to Dhaka on Saturday. 

With this landmark initiative, experts have opined that a new horizon is 
going to be opened in the country's fuel oil transportation system which will 
ultimately result in reducing supply time and carrying cost substantially per 
annum. 
 
Project Director (PD) Aminul Haque told BSS that fuel transportation through 
the newly built 242-kilometer covert facility is set to begin after extensive 
test-trials and successful pre-commissioning. 
 
At least 260-280 metric tons of diesel will be transported from Chattogram to 
the Godnail depot in Narayanganj every hour through an environmentally 
friendly, risk-free, cost-effective, and time-saving pipeline, he said.
 
"Earlier, we needed more than 48 hours along with hundreds of oil tankers to 
carry such a quantity of fuel through waterways or by road. Now, fuel oil 
will reach the depot in Narayanganj in 12 hours," he added.
 
Test runs of fuel transportation through the newly installed pipeline began 
in February this year. "The commercial operation started on a trial basis 
from the evening of June 22. Through this, the initial activities of 
operational capacity, experience, and project handover process have begun," 
the PD continued.
 
After fixing some technical issues, a total of five crore liters of diesel 
have been transported through the pipeline without any system loss, he 
further said.
 
Advisor to the Ministry of Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources Faozul Kabir 
Khan is scheduled to inaugurate this groundbreaking project at the Dispatch 
Terminal in Patenga at 11am on Saturday (August 16). 
 
Secretary of the Energy and Mineral Resources Department Mohammad Saiful 
Islam and Engineer-in-Chief of the Bangladesh Army Major General Hasan-uz-
Zaman will also attend the function.
 
"The pipeline has an annual transportation capacity of 2.7 million to three 
million tonnes of fuel oil, which can be increased to five million tonnes in 
the future," Aminul Haque noted, adding that it can supply up to 350 tonnes 
per hour.
 
Currently, there is a demand for around 15 lakh to 20 lakh tonnes of oil in 
Dhaka, Haque added.
 
"It costs around Taka 326 crore for transportation every year while the 
pipeline will bring down the cost to just Taka 90 crore, saving a substantial 
amount of over Taka 230 crore," he remarked.
 
The project will enhance the country's energy efficiency and security, and 
more areas will be brought under the facility gradually, the PD said.
 
Notably, fuel oil is now transported from Chattogram to other parts of the 
country through rail, road and waterways. Over 110 vessels are required to 
carry fuel through the waterways for different parts of the country every 
month, according to the sources.
 
These traditional methods are associated with huge transportation losses in 
the name of system loss, pilferage, high cost and supply disruptions during 
the dry season due to reduced navigability in different points of water 
routes. 
 
It prompted the authorities to initiate the project to ensure a smooth energy 
supply.
 
The visions guided the project objectives include the installation of an 
underground pipeline to transport diesel in an easy, secured and faster way 
from the main establishments of the petroleum products marketing companies in 
Chattogram to Cumilla and Dhaka, to develop necessary infrastructures for 
making the fuel transportation and operation system as a modern and 
sustainable ones, ensuring uninterrupted fuel supply to Cumilla, Dhaka, and 
northern region of the country during adverse weather. 
 
Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) has implemented the project through 
the 24 Engineering Construction Brigade of the Bangladesh Army, the PD said. 
 
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) first okayed 
the project involving around Taka 2,861 crore in October 2018. It was 
supposed to be completed in December 2020, but the project cost has jumped up 
to around Taka 3,699 crore following delay in implementation period. 
 
Under the project, a 241.28-kilometer underground pipeline with a 16-inch 
diameter from Chattogram to Godnail in Narayanganj, and an 8.290-kilometer 
pipeline with a 10-inch diameter from Godnail to Fatulla in Narayanganj have 
been installed.
 
A total of nine stations have also been developed with the pipelines that 
crossed through 22 rivers and canals, requiring the acquisition of 286.88 
acres of land, the sources said. 

A full-fledged modern and automatic depot has also been developed in Mogbari 
under Barura upazila in Cumilla district to facilitate the transportation 
from Chattogram to Dhaka via Feni, Cumilla, Chandpur and Munshiganj 
districts.