Sapugaskanda oil refinery to resume operations from tomorrow

Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila Sapugaskanda yesterday said the oil refinery which was closed temporarily will resume operations from tomorrow.

The sole refinery in Sri Lanka for the first time in its history temporarily suspended operations for 50 days from 15 November due to a shortage in crude oil supply.

However, it is planned to resume its activities after three weeks. A ship carrying crude oil is scheduled to arrive at the Port of Colombo within the next two weeks. It is said that 90,000 tons of crude oil will be brought in and it will be enough for about 15 days.

Another crude oil tanker is scheduled to arrive at the Port of Colombo in mid-January.

The Petroleum Trade Unions had said that if the operations of the refinery were halted for a long time, the refinery could be damaged and it would cost billions to repair the refinery.

Gammanpila said that the import of crude oil will be resumed as soon as the dollar deficit is overcome by obtaining credit facilities.