The process of releasing oil from the pipeline began on July 3, 2023. This oil will come to Chattogram’s Eastern Refinery through a 116 km long pipeline. Due to this 8000 crore taka project, the oil clearance system will reduce the loss and cost as well as reduce the time from 25 days to just 2 days.
Eastern Refinery, the only state-owned company in the country, is capable of refining 15 lakh tonnes of crude oil per year. The Single Point Mooring with Double Pipeline (SPM) project is the second unit of the institute. When it becomes operational, the refining capacity will increase to 45 lakh tonnes.
Through this project, in the first phase, an about 16 km pipeline from the deep sea will take oil from the ships anchored in the sea to the storage tank at Maheshkhali. After commissioning of the pipeline, hedges, circuit valves will be tested. After that, pipeline commissioning will be done from storage to the Eastern Refinery at Patenga in Chattogram. Commissioning of the pipeline will be done first for crude oil and later for diesel.
According to the project documents, a single point mooring (SPM) has been set up in the Bay of Bengal six kilometers west of the coast at Kalamarchhara union in Maheshkhali. Unloading of crude oil and diesel will be done from SPM through two separate pipelines of 36 inch diameter. The pipeline will first be brought to the CSTF or Pump Station and Tank Farm in Kalmar through a 16 km route. From there, the oil will go to the sea coast of Anwara upazila through various pumps through a 74 km pipeline. From there, the oil will be transported to the Eastern Refinery at Patenga through a 36 km pipeline.
