State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Anindya Islam Amit today said there is no cause for concern as the country has sufficient reserves of fuel oil.

“The fuel crisis in the country has arisen due to anxiety and panic,” he told reporters at the ministry at the Secretariat here.

He said, “We all know there is an ongoing crisis in the Middle East. The longer it continues, the more likely it is to turn into a global crisis. No country can overcome such a situation alone; we must find a collective way out.”

Anindya said, “The current government is an elected one, and we have a responsibility to the people. From that sense of responsibility, we have been working since the first day of assuming office to reduce people’s suffering, or at least keep it at a tolerable level.”

He said, “We have repeatedly said that there is no fuel or electricity crisis in Bangladesh at present. However, recently we have seen long queues at petrol pumps. The question may arise as to why there are long queues, and the media have already clarified the issue.”

He said, “Our normal demand over the past five days of last week was practically two to three times higher than usual. Despite supplying fuel, in many cases we have not been able to reduce people’s anxiety.”

Anindya said, “It could have happened due to anxiety, panic buying, or perhaps, as we have been told, a lack of patriotism. We did not consider it unusual; rather, we treated it as a normal situation and tried to address it through regular processes.”

He said, “We tried to adjust supply based on normal demand. Even then, we saw that the situation worsened in some places.”

The state minister said, “Today we have issued a notice regarding ride-sharing drivers. They have to stand in long queues and wait for a long time to get fuel. Earlier, we had allocated two litres for them through rationing, but it was not sufficient for their operations. This has created difficulties for them at this time. That is why today we have arranged to supply up to five litres of fuel to ride-sharing drivers such as those working with Uber and Pathao. This is more than double the previous amount, and I believe it will bring some relief.”

Anindya Islam Amit said, “Another important issue is that petrol pumps usually have separate queues—one for motorcycles and another for private vehicles. The main demand for these vehicles is for octane and petrol. At present, there is no shortage of octane or petrol. As you know, most of the petrol used in Bangladesh is refined locally. We also obtain a large portion of octane from domestic sources, though some refined octane has to be imported.”

He said, “There has been no fuel shortage at any petrol pump so far. People may have to wait a little longer to get fuel, but since fuel prices have not increased, I believe the current concern will gradually ease.”

He said two ships carrying around 30,000 tonnes of fuel each arrived in the country yesterday. “One has already arrived, while another has reached the outer anchorage. We expect to unload its fuel by today. Another ship is due to arrive on March 12.”