Dhaka, Aug. 9 -- The overall cost of operation of the country's maiden Tk 80 billion single-point mooring (SPM) to carry petroleum products from the sea to land is set to be much higher than the estimation as the authorities concerned have moved to assign a foreign contractor to look after both of its onshore and offshore operations, said sources.

The state-run Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) initially planned to operate the onshore portion of the SPM itself to reduce operation costs, one of its senior officials told The Financial Express Sunday.

It intended to operate the onshore pipeline portion of the SPM by itself, utilising its experience of operating 126 kilometres of pipeline, which lie inside Bangladesh, of the total 131....