The cabinet committee on government purchase on Saturday approved two proposals to procure one lakh tonnes of diesel and two cargoes of liquefied natural gas amid persistently high demand for petroleum products, as consumers continued to crowd refuelling stations across the country.

Presided over by finance and planning minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, the virtual meeting approved a proposal from the Energy Division under the direct purchase method to procure diesel from Kazakh Gas Processing LLP at a cost of $75.06 per barre, citing the war in the Gulf region.

The committee also approved the procurement of two cargoes of LNG from Aramco Trading Singapore Pte Ltd at a cost of around Tk 1,560 crore.

This was the second purchase meeting in four days, as the Energy Division rushed to secure approvals to import 3.6 lakh tonnes  of fuel oil following disruptions in shipments from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates under previous government-to-government negotiations.

On April 1, the same committee approved three separate proposals to procure 2.6 lakh tonnes of diesel. Amid supply disruptions caused by the war in the Persian Gulf, the Energy Division opted for the direct purchase method and placed three proposals to buy 17 lakh tonnes on that day.

The committee approved only the proposal negotiated with the Kazakh company and asked the Energy Division to further review two other proposals — one for 10 lakh tonnes of diesel and 1 lakh tonne of gasoline from Dubai-based DBS Trading House, and another for 1 lakh tonnes of diesel from Maxwell International SPC, an Oman-based company.

A vessel carrying 34,000 tonnes of diesel from Malaysia arrived at Chattogram Port on Saturday, a day after another vessel from Singapore carrying 27,300 tonnes reached the port.

Refuelling stations in the capital continued to witness crowds of consumers waiting in long queues for hours to collect fuel on Saturday.

At a dialogue titled ‘Energy crisis can be addressed through strengthening domestic system,’ organised by Debate for Democracy in the capital on Saturday, energy expert Professor Dr M Tamim alleged that past misinformation regarding fuel reserves and supply had eroded public trust in official data, United News of Bangladesh reported.

He said that before the Middle East crisis, the country had fuel reserves for only two days, yet there was no panic, whereas now public anxiety persists despite reserves lasting between seven and 15 days.

People are panic-buying petrol and octane beyond their needs, although the real concern should be diesel supply, he added.

Diesel accounts for 62.69 per cent of the total annual consumption of 62.8 lakh tonnes.

In Cumilla, education minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon on Saturday said that classes in urban areas would be conducted under a blended system, both offline and online, to help conserve electricity amid the war-induced global crisis.

The government has already decided to reduce office and bank operating hours by one hour and asked shopping malls and markets to close by 6:00pm to minimise energy consumption amid the ongoing Gulf conflict.

As part of austerity measures to manage energy costs and economic pressure, government spending on fuel, electricity and gas has been cut by 30 per cent. Additionally, unnecessary travel expenses have been reduced by 30 per cent, while expenditure on meetings and seminar-related entertainment has been halved.