Bangladesh to import diesel from Egypt - official

DHAKA (Reuters) - State-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) will buy 60,000 tonnes of diesel from a supplier in Egypt for consumption during January-June period of next year, a senior energy official said on Saturday.

"The BPC will import the diesel from Egypt-based Middle East Oil Refineries (MIDOR) to diversify sources of fuel as the demand is rising sharply," the official said.

He said MIDOR had approved Bangladesh's proposal to sell diesel at a premium of $3.90 per barrel, which is lower than the rates offered by Gulf refineries.

In February 2008, the BPC imported some 30,000 tonnes of diesel from the Egyptian company when it agreed to double the shipment, the official said.

The BPC, the country's sole importer and distributor of oil and fuels, last week completed negotiations with the state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) to buy more than 1 million tonnes of refined oil at a cost of $580 million.

The KPC, a major source of refined products for the BPC, has lowered the premium rate for diesel to $3.90 per barrel from the previous $4.90.

It imports between 3.4 million and 3.8 million tonnes of oil annually, including about 1.4 million tonnes of crude oil at a cost of $2 billion to $3 billion.

(Reporting by Serajul Islam Quadir; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)