DHAKA, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh's first sea-land integrated oil storage and transportation system has been put into commercial operation.

       The project started in 2019 and was completed in November 2023, with preferential loans provided by the Chinese government, financed by the Export-Import Bank of China and undertaken by China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Co., Ltd.

       The project will shorten oil unloading and transportation time for 100,000-ton oil tankers from 11 days to about 48 hours, saving the country 128 million U.S. dollars in crude oil transportation every year.

       It will make unloading system more efficient and reduce cost, and it will be a modern environmental project, Md Sharif Hasnat, deputy general manager of Eastern Refinery Limited, told Xinhua, adding the project will have a positive impact on the economy, especially the energy sector.

       Project manager Sun Bijun said that the project under the Belt and Road Initiative will greatly ease the current energy shortage in Bangladesh and become a new energy artery in the country.

       The project has also provided 4,000 jobs, Sun said.