BPC Fails to Import LPG Even After 7 Months Despite Five Tenders

⚠ Chattogram, Bangladesh — The government accounts for just 1.33 per cent of the country’s LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) market, while the private sector controls the rest. To reduce dependence on private operators and create scope for government intervention during crises, Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) took the initiative to directly import LPG for the first time in January 2026.

❌ However, despite seven months of efforts, the agency has failed to import even one tonne of LPG. Over the past seven months, BPC has invited tenders five times. However, it failed to find any acceptable supplier in response to the tenders. It then took the initiative to purchase 5,000 tonnes of LPG through a direct procurement method outside the regular tendering process.

💰 Speed Marketing Corporation Secures Contract

🤝 A company named Speed Marketing Corporation secured the contract to supply LPG worth around Tk 450 million (45 crore) through the direct procurement method. The company deposited the required security deposit on Thursday. However, BPC is still uncertain about when it will be able to supply the gas.

📊 Two responsible BPC officials told Prothom Alo that the corporation will now sign an agreement with the company after it has deposited the security money. The company will then have to open a letter of credit (LC) for the import. As a result, it is not yet possible to say when the imported LPG will reach the country.

📋 One of the conditions for BPC receiving approval to import LPG was that it would supply the imported LPG to approved private operators. The operators would then market the gas themselves.

💬 LOAB President: Operators Ready to Cooperate

💬 Amirul Haque, President of the LPG Operators Association of Bangladesh (LOAB), told Prothom Alo: “Private operators are ready to cooperate. However, all rules and conditions, including the commercial terms, must be acceptable to both parties.”

📊 On 20 January 2026, the Energy and Mineral Resources Division approved BPC’s LPG import proposal subject to three conditions. BPC then sought suppliers on five occasions between February and July. However, no company showed interest. Later, when Speed Marketing expressed interest in supplying LPG on its own on 4 August, BPC moved to purchase the gas through the direct procurement method.

💬 BPC Chairman: Process Underway

💬 Asked about the matter, BPC Chairman Md Manzur Alam Pradhan told Prothom Alo: “The process of importing LPG is underway. We are in discussions with two companies. Imports will begin soon.” He added: “We are also trying to establish LPG plants in Chattogram and Mongla. If these plants can be built, they will create capacity in the LPG sector. Consumers will also benefit from this.”

📊 LPG Market Growth: From 5.5 Lakh to 16 Lakh Tonnes

🔥 The government stopped approving new residential gas connections in 2015. Since then, the use of LPG as a cooking fuel has grown rapidly. According to the LPG Operators Association of Bangladesh (LOAB), the sector grew by 100 per cent in 2016 compared with the previous year. In 2017, growth increased further to 123 per cent.

📊 The country supplied 550,000 tonnes of LPG in the 2017–18 financial year. The figure has now risen to around 1.5 to 1.6 million (15 to 16 lakh) tonnes a year.

💰 Although the market has expanded significantly, almost the entire business remains under private-sector control. According to BPC, the government does not import any LPG. Eastern Refinery, the state-owned oil refinery, obtains some LPG as a by-product during the oil-refining process. In the private sector, 15 to 20 companies import a major share of the country’s LPG.

💰 Price Volatility: Tk 842 to Tk 3,000 Per Cylinder

📋 Around 80 per cent of the LPG used in the country goes towards household cooking. In 2020, a 12 kg cylinder cost around Tk 900. Since May 2021, the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) has been setting LPG prices.

📊 In May 2021, the price of a 12 kg cylinder stood at Tk 842. However, prices began to rise following the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, driven by developments in the international market. During the severe shortage last December, a cylinder sold for as much as Tk 3,000 in some parts of the country.

📊 Why Tenders Failed: $270/tonne Premium Demand

⚠ As a nationwide shortage emerged, the government took steps in January to import LPG through BPC to reduce reliance on the private sector and increase market supplies during shortages. For this purpose, BPC wrote to the Energy and Mineral Resources Division on 10 January, seeking policy approval. The division granted approval on 20 January, subject to three conditions.

📊 After receiving approval, BPC invited tenders five times — twice in February and three times in July — but no company showed interest. BPC officials said the high premium was a major obstacle to attracting suppliers.

💰 One company sought a premium of US$270 per tonne on top of Saudi Aramco’s contract price (CP). BPC rejected the offer, considering the premium excessively high and commercially unviable.

🌏 Strategic Context: Bangladesh LPG Sector Vulnerability

⚠ The BPC’s seven-month failure to import LPG exposes the structural vulnerability of Bangladesh’s energy market. With the country heavily dependent on LPG for household cooking — particularly in areas outside the piped natural gas network — the absence of a public-sector LPG import capability means consumers are entirely at the mercy of private operators during supply shocks or price spikes.

📊 For households, the impact has been severe. The price volatility — from Tk 842 in May 2021 to Tk 3,000 during December shortages — hits low- and middle-income families hardest, particularly in rural and peri-urban areas where LPG is the primary cooking fuel.

🤝 For the broader energy security agenda, the BPC’s failure highlights the urgent need for:

• 🏢 Strategic LPG reserves — building public storage capacity to buffer against supply shocks
• 💰 Price stabilisation mechanism — creating a fund to absorb international price spikes
• 🏭 Domestic production capacity — investing in LPG extraction from gas processing and refining
• 🤝 Public-private partnerships — structuring import contracts that share risk between BPC and private operators

✅ For Bangladesh’s industrial consumers — including ceramics, steel and agro-processing factories that use LPG as a backup fuel when piped gas supply is disrupted — the BPC’s inability to import LPG compounds the broader industrial energy crisis. With the country already facing severe gas shortages, the absence of a reliable LPG alternative removes one of the key fallback options for factories struggling to maintain production.

🌏 As the Speed Marketing Corporation contract moves towards signing, the coming weeks will reveal whether BPC can finally begin public-sector LPG imports — or whether this latest attempt will also stall, leaving Bangladesh’s LPG market exposed to another cycle of price volatility and supply uncertainty.