State-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corp. (BPC) will buy a combined total of 180,000 tons of diesel and kerosene from a state-run Philippine company, a senior official said yesterday.

The proposal to import the fuel from Philippine National Oil Co.-Exploration Corp. (PNO-EC) during July-December of 2009 was approved yesterday by the government purchase committee headed by Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith.

"It will cost $71.28 million to import 150,000 tons of diesel and 30,000 tons of kerosene from Philippines," said Shahedur Rahman, spokesman of the finance ministry.

PNOC-EC, an upstream oil, gas and coal exploration and production company, will charge a premium for the import of diesel at $5.15 per barrel and for kerosene at $6.60 per barrel, the official told Reuters after the meeting.

Premium is the carrying and other costs such as insurance paid in addition to the actual price of diesel and kerosene. The prices of diesel and kerosene are fixed in accordance with the international market.

The BPC in the last two years signed deals with at least four state-run oil companies from Maldives, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates to import fuel oils without any tender. — Reuters