Efforts are being made to be able to import fuel oil in cargo ships that can carry 30,000 tonnes of oil in an effort to bring down the costs of transportation, said Dr. Win Myint, the secretary of the Myanmar Fuel Oil Importers and Distributors Association.
Currently, fuel oil is mainly imported by Singapore using cargo ships which can carry 15,000 tonnes of cargo oil. Singapore re-exports the fuel oil to Myanmar, resulting in the rise of the fuel oil price.
The oil importers and distributors association is making effort to import oil directly from oil-producing countries using high-capacity supertankers, thus saving transportation cost, the association said. In addition, the fuel oil can be distributed in the domestic market at a price offered in the importer countries.
Importing the fuel oil costs from US$2.5 to US$4 a barrel. About 400,000 tonnes of fuel oil have to be imported monthly, resulting in transportation costs of about US$5million.
The fuel oil price can be fixed if oil exporting countries directly import the fuel oil to Myanmar with supertankers.
The volume of fuel oil imports have increased year by year: 2.22million in 2012- 2013, 2.35million in 2013- 2014 and 3.47 million in 2014-2015. Therefore, the distributors and authorities concerned are making attempts to ensure the quality of the fuel oil and a reasonable price close to the prevailing international oil price.
Source: Global New Light of Myanmar
