Dhaka, April 14 -- The country's only state-owned oil refinery, Eastern Refinery PLC Limited (ERL), has suspended its refining operations due to a shortage of crude oil.

According to officials concerned, operations were halted on Sunday afternoon after the last round of production.

Sources at the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) said that the last shipment of crude oil arrived in the country on February 18. No crude oil has been imported for 54 consecutive days.

ERL officials stated that crude oil imports have virtually remained suspended for nearly two months following the outbreak of war in the Middle East, making it impossible to continue production due to a lack of raw materials.

The Energy Division, however, said that there...