The government is planning to build a petrochemical complex in Matarbari, Cox's Bazar. The country's largest oil refinery will be built in this complex. The annual oil refining capacity will be 15-20 million metric tons. In addition, technical systems for quality control and testing of fuel products will be put in place. The complex will be built in the Maheshkhali-Matarbari Integrated Development Initiative (MIDI) region to meet the country's growing energy demand and reduce dependence on imported refined petroleum products. The project proposal has already been raised by Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) to the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources. This information was learned after talking to the concerned officials of BPC.

BPC Chairman Amin ul Ahsan told, "The petrochemical complex project in Matarbari is a strategic project for Bangladesh. The proposed petrochemical complex will have the capacity to process 15-20 million metric tons of crude oil annually. Initially, we are thinking of refining 10 million metric tons per year." He said that a place for the complex has already been identified. There are also interested investors.

Officials concerned said that this project is being considered as a strategic step to ensure the country's national energy security and reduce import costs. Especially in the last few years, the demand for fuel oil in Bangladesh has been increasing at a rate of 4 to 5 percent. In contrast, the country's current fuel oil storage capacity is about 1.57 million metric tons, which is equal to the country's 30 to 35 days' demand. Apart from this, the government is also working to launch Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL) Unit-2. Three million metric tons of crude oil will be refined annually through the ERL-2 project.

It is learnt that 404.76 hectares of land in the MIDI zone of Matarbari has been identified for a petrochemical complex. Several energy-related infrastructure projects are already underway in the area. These include a land-based LNG terminal, an LPG terminal and channel expansion work under the Chittagong Port Authority.

After allocating land for the channel expansion, 92.84 hectares (229.41 acres) of land remains for the LNG and LPG terminals. The Department of Energy and Mineral Resources has proposed to use a portion of the land initially allocated for the Matarbari Ultra-Super Critical Coal Power Plant for the new complex. The proposed site is adjacent to the recently completed Single Point Mooring (SPM) pipeline. This will facilitate direct unloading of crude oil and diesel through the SPM.

Meetings were held with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) on this proposal on June 19 and July 3. JICA has shown a positive attitude towards the project. The proposed site is located in plots 25, 30, 31 and 32 of the Energy Industrial Zone, which is adjacent to the LNG/LPG terminal area.

Currently, BPC refines only 1.5 million metric tons of crude oil per year, compared to the country's demand of 6.8 million tons. BPC estimates that this demand will increase to 10 million metric tons by the 2030-31 fiscal year and 13 million metric tons by the 2040-41 fiscal year.