Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL), the country’s only state-owned oil refinery, has surpassed its annual refining capacity for the first time in its 57-year history. In the 2024–25 fiscal year, ERL refined 1.535 million tonnes of crude oil—35,000 tonnes more than its annual capacity of 1.5 million tonnes.
The announcement was made at a press conference held at the ERL head office in Patenga, Chattogram, on Tuesday (1 July).
Senior Secretary of the Public Security Division under the Ministry of Home Affairs and ERL Board Chairman Md Nasimul Gani, BPC Chairman Aminul Ahsan, and ERL Managing Director Engineer Sharif Hasnat addressed the media.
Also present were BPC Director (Operations and Planning) Dr AKM Azadur Rahman, Director (Finance) Nazneen Parveen, Secretary Shahina Sultana, General Manager (Planning and Development) Engineer Md Amir Masud, and General Manager (Commerce and Operations) Moni Lal Dash, among others.
Nasimul Gani said the interim government is taking effective steps to ensure national energy security. He mentioned significant progress in implementing the Eastern Refinery-2 project, including the formulation of a new Development Project Proposal (DPP). He called the latest production figure a record in ERL’s 57-year history.
BPC Chairman Aminul Ahsan stated that new refinery plants are being planned for Matarbari and Payra.
According to ERL, the refinery was built by French company Technip in 1966 along the bank of the Karnaphuli River in Patenga, Chattogram. Commercial operations began on 7 May 1968. The refinery processes up to 1.5 million tonnes of imported crude oil annually to produce diesel, petrol, octane, jet fuel, bitumen, LPG, and other petroleum products.
