Padma Oil Company Limited

Padma Oil Company Limited is not only the biggest but also the oldest with its antecedents stretching well back to the colonial period of British-India. Its ancestral enterprise ‘Rangoon Oil Company’ established petroleum business in this part of the world by the middle of nineteenth century. Following is a Synopsis of Padma Oil Company’s historical background.

In 1874 ‘Rangoon Oil Company’ was registered as a Joint stock company in Scotland having its main business activities in Burma (Known to the British until the later years of the 19th century as BURMAH, which was a province of the then British India)

In 1885, Rangoon Oil Company was reconstituted and reformed as Burmah Oil company. Business of this Company was then spread over other provinces of British-India including Assam and Bengal. The Company’s Head office was at 191 West George Street, Glasgow, U.K.

Burmah Oil Company for the first time introduced drilling equipments for exploration of Oil in Burma in the year 1888. Previously oil was being collected in Burma by hand dug well.

Burmah Oil Company established their ‘Moheshkhal Oil Installation’ at Chittagong in the year 1903. In 1908, Burmah Oil Company conducted a geological survey in Chittagong. In 1914, Burmah Oil Company drilled a well at sitakunda, Chittagong. In the year 1920, M/s Bullock Brothers, a major distributor of Burmah Oil Company established their trading office at Sadarghat, Chittagong. In the year 1929, Burmah Oil Company took over the office of Bullock Brothers at Sadarghat, Chittagong including 4.1 acres of land and established their own office in it.

Prior to the partition of the sub-continent in 1947, mainly two oil marketing companies namely Burmah Oil Company (BOC) and Burmah shell Oil Storage and Distribution Company (BSOC) were operating Petroleum business in the area what now comprise Bangladesh. Burmah Shell established Aviation Depot at Tejgaon Airport in the year 1948.

Considering the Oil Marketing situation in erstwhile East Pakistan, Burmah Shell transferred their share to BOC and in the year 1965 a new company called ‘Burmah Eastern Limited’ was formed with 49% share of BOC. The rest portion of the share was issued to public & private individuals of Pakistan.
In 1977, Burmah Eastern Limited became a subsidiary of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation.

In the year 1985, BOC transferred its entire property in Bangldesh (including share of Burmah Eastern Limited) in favour of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC).
As per terms of the transfer of BOC’s entire share to BPC, Burmah Eastern Limited was required to change its name and as such subsequently the company’s name was changed as ‘PADMA OIL COMPANY LIMITED’ in the year 1988.

Read More

Meghna Petroleum Limited (MPL)

Meghna Petroleum Limited (MPL) was setup on December27,1977 under Company Act 1913 (later on company Act 1994), as a private limited company with the objectives of taking over the physical possession of all the fixed assets of the erstwhile Meghna Petroleum Marketing Company Limited (MPMCL) and Padma Petroleum Limited (PPL) as on March 31, 1978. Meghna Petroleum Marketing Company Limited was created after acquiring the operation of the then ESSO Eastern Inc. (1962) of America in 1975 and Padma Petroleum Limited was created in 1972 after acquiring the operation of the then Dawood Petroleum Limited (1968).

In the year 1976 the assets and liability of the company were transferred and handed over to Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) as per BPC Ordinance no. LXXXVIII. Since then Meghna Petroleum Limited has been functioning as a subsidiary of BPC The Company started its journey with an Authorized Capital and Paid-up Capital of Tk. 100 million and Tk. 50 million respectively. The Company was converted into Public Limited Company from a Private Limited Company on 29th May 2007 and its Authorized Capital was increased to Tk. 4000 million. 

On 17th January 2014 the Paid-up Capital of the Company was increased to 983.8 million by issuing Bonus Share. The Company was enlisted with Dhaka Stock Exchange Limited (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange Limited (CSE) on 14th November 2007 and 2nd December 2007 respectively with a view of off-load of 30% i.e. 1.20 Crore shares under direct listing procedure. On 14th January, 2008 the shares of the company were off-loaded in the two Capital Market. Later on as per Govt, decision BPC has been off-loaded another 17% share of the Company during the period from July 2011 to September 2011 under the same procedure.

At present there is a Board of Directors comprising of 9 members to run the company. The overall activities of the company are performed with the approval of the Board of Directors.

Read More

Jamuna Oil Company Limited

In 1964 Pakistan National Oil Limited (PNOL), the maiden National Oil Company of the then Pakistan was established as a private limited company. The company started functioning with an authorized capital of Tk.2.00 crore. After the Independence of Bangladesh in 1971 the Government of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh acquired the assets and liabilities of Pakistan National Oil Limited by virtue of Bangladesh Abandoned Property (control, Management & Disposal) Order, 1972 (P. O. No. 16 of 1972) and the Company was renamed as Bangladesh National Oil Limited. The Company has been finally renamed as Jamuna Oil Company Limited (JOCL) by the Government on 13 January, 1973. At that time the company was operated by an adhoc committee called Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC) under Petrobangla, constitute by the notification No. 21 m-4/76 (NR) dated 21-4-73, M/O. Natural Resources. 

Jamuna Oil Company Limited was registered with the registrar of Joint Stock Companies & Firms as fully Government owned Private Limited Company on 12 March, 1975 under Companies Act 1913 with authorized capital of Tk. 10.00 crore and paid-up capital of Tk. 5.00 crore. Subsequently, in the year 1976 the assets and liabilities of the Company were transferred & handed over to Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) as per schedule stated in clause 31(c) of BPC Ordinance No. LXXXVIII (published in Bangladesh Gazette extra ordinary on 13 November, 1976). Since then Jamuna Oil Company Limited has been functioning as a Subsidiary of BPC. On 1 January, 1986 all assets and liabilities of Indo-Burmah Petroleum Company Limited (IBPCL) were transferred to the Company.

In 2005-2006 FY the paid-up capital of the company was increased to Tk. 10.00 crore from Tk. 5.00 crore by issuing of bonus share out of its profit. The company was converted into a Public Limited Company from a Private Limited Company on 25 June, 2007 and its authorized capital was increased to Tk. 300.00 crore. On 10 August, 2007 the paid-up capital of the company was increased to Tk.45.00 crore by issuing bonus share of Tk. 35.00 crore. The company was enlisted with Dhaka Stock Exchange Limited and Chittagong Stock Exchange Limited on 9 January, 2008 with a view to off-load 1.35 crore shares of Tk.10.00 each under direct listing procedure and accordingly the shares of the company were off-loaded in the capital market.

On 14th may,2011, in its 35th AGM, the company declared to pay 30% cash dividend and 20% Bonus share of taka 10.00 each for the FY 2009-2010. With this issuance of bonus share, company's total paid up capital soared to Tk. 54.00 Crore.

On 11th february,2012, in its 36th AGM, the company declared to pay 30% cash dividend and 30% Bonus share of taka 10.00 each for the FY 2010-2011. With this issuance of bonus share, company's total paid up capital soared to Tk. 70.20 Crore. 

In its 37th AGM, held on January 12, 2013, the company declared and approved to pay 45% cash dividend and 30% stock dividend of taka 10.00 each for the FY 2011-12. As a result, company's total paid up capital increased to 91.26 Crore.

There is a Board of Directors constituting of 9 members to run the Company. The overall activities of the company are performed with the approval of the Board of Directors. The company implements the Government policies as per the guidance and directives of BPC from time to time.

Read More

Eastern Refinery; the largest oil refinery in Bangladesh

Eastern Refinery is the largest oil refinery in Bangladesh. Eastern Refinery Limited (locally known as ERL), a subsidiary of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation, plays a vital role in supplying around 40% of country’s current petroleum products demand and thus maintains stability in Petroleum, Oil and Lubricants (POL) Products market of the country. ERL sometimes becomes the only fall back system available, to avoid products crisis in the face of disruption of products’ import.

ERL as a profitable company in the Public Sector contributes substantially to the national exchequer in the form of dividend, taxes, VAT etc.

Eastern Refinery was incorporated under Companies’ Act 1913(amended in 1994) as a Public Limited Company in 1963 with 35% EPIDC’s( East Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation) shares, 30% shares held by Burmah Oil Company (BOC) and the rest 35% by private entrepreneurs. From November, 1985, Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) became the 100% share holder of the company.

Refinery went on-stream with three Processing Units:

1. Crude Distillation Unit
2. Catalytic Reforming Unit
3. Hydrodesulphurization Unit

New Process units added to original configuration:

1. Asphaltic Bitumen Plant(Commissioned in Dec. 1980)
2. Long Residue Visbreaker Unit (Commissioned in Dec.1994)
3. Mild Hydrocracker Unit (Hydrodesulphurization Unit revamped to MHC unit, commissioned in Dec.1994);
4. MHC unit Converted to NGC (Natural Gas Condensate) unit, Commissioned in Nov. 2007 by ERL Engineers

Under a Processing Agreement with BPC, ERL processes crude oil imported by BPC and delivers the finished petroleum products to the other subsidiaries of BPC for marketing and distribution. ERL processes Arabian Light Crude (ALC) and Murban Crude, imported respectively from KSA and Abu Dhabi and produces 15 petroleum products. ERL also processes natural gas condensate to the tune of 100,000 MT/Yr as crude mix. ERL's operational and other activities are as follows :

• Receives crude oil imported by BPC in ERL's own storage tanks.
• Produces petroleum products by processing crude oil and transfer these to other subsidiaries of BPc through pipe lines.
• Receives imported motor gasoline and diesel in ERL's storage tanks and after necessary blending, transfers these as MS & HSD to marketing companies.
• Operates Asphaltic Bitumen Plant and delivers the produced Bitumen to marketing companies.
• Procures equipment, spares, chemical etc. in order to maintain continuous and smooth operation of the refinery.
• Prepares and executes development projects essential for improvement of refinery operations.

Read More