The government is buying 100,000 tonnes of diesel from Kazakhstan to mitigate a fuel supply crunch caused by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

The Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase approved a proposal to that end in a rare Saturday session held virtually, chaired by Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury.

The high-speed diesel will be sourced from Kazakh Gas Processing Plant LLP.

The move comes as the energy ministry sought approval to import a total of 1.7 million tonnes of fuel from the UAE, Kazakhstan, and Oman to meet urgent domestic demand.

While the Economic Affairs Committee greenlit proposals for an additional 1.1 million tonnes of diesel and octane from UAE-based DBS Trading House FZCO and "Maxwell International SPC", these have yet to receive final purchase committee clearance.

According to the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), two vessels -- the MT Yuan Jing He and the MT Shan Gang Fa Xian -- arrived at Chattogram port between Friday and Saturday, delivering 61,000 tonnes of refined diesel.

On Tuesday, the PVT Solana offloaded another 30,000 tonnes.

Bangladesh requires approximately 6.5 to 6.8 million tonnes of fuel annually, with 80 percent imported in refined form from countries including Singapore, China, and India.

For April, the national demand for diesel stands at 400,000 tonnes.

Officials confirmed that 168,000 tonnes are currently being processed for arrival, supplemented by an existing reserve of 150,000 tonnes.

The newly approved imports are expected to arrive by May or June, following the issuance of performance guarantees and the opening of letters of credit (LCs).

The committee also approved the purchase of two cargoes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Aramco Trading Singapore Pte Ltd. This follows a previous decision last month to procure three LNG cargoes from the spot market to address the ongoing energy shortage.