Bangladesh will import 1.6 million tonnes of diesel in 2012 from Kuwait, about 34 per cent more than the current year, a senior official of the state-run Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) said on Monday.

Mohammad Muqtadir Ali, chairman of the BPC, told Reuters that Bangladesh would also import 280,000 tonnes of jet fuel from state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) next year.

'We have agreed to import the oil products during our discussion today with the KPC,' he said.

A five-member delegation of KPC is visiting Bangladesh for talks with the BPC executives and other energy officials.

Anwar-al-Matooq, a senior official of the KPC, is heading the delegation.

Bangladesh will import 1.2 million tonnes of diesel and 170,000 tonnes of jet fuel for 2011 from KPC.

'We requested them to allow us to import oil products from KPC with two-month deferred payment next year instead of one-month at present. The delegation assured to consider that,' Muqtadir said.

He said that BPC's lack of financial resources caused the request for extended deferred payment.

BPC on Sunday raised all fuel prices by up to 19 percent effective on Monday as the state-run oil importing and distributing firm incurred heavy losses.

The official said that BPC would incur $2.42 billion loses in 2011/12 fiscal year and after raising of fuel prices that would come down to $1.74 billon.

Bangladesh will spend $6.17 billion on importing oil in the 2011/12 fiscal year, more than double the previous year, as it buys more fuel at higher cost to fire up new power plants aimed at easing electricity shortages, Muqtadir said.

The import cost and subsidy are going up because of price rises in the international oil market, and for additional imports to run oil-fired power plants.

The subsidy in the energy and power sectors increased about 280 percent last year, a document of the finance ministry showed.-Reuters