Cabinet approval granted for 03 foreign companies in China, Australia, USA to enter Sri Lanka’s fuel market

Sri Lanka’s Cabinet has given the green light to award licences to China’s Sinopec, Australia’s United Petroleum and RM Parks of the USA, in collaboration with multinational oil and gas company – Shell plc to enter the Fuel Retail market in Sri Lanka.

Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said that the Energy Committee & relevant other procurement committees had given their approval & recommendation to award the 3 companies the licences to operate.

The Minister stated that the 3 companies will be allocated 150 Dealer operated fuel stations each which are currently operated by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CEYPETCO).

They will be granted a licence to operate for 20 years to import, store, distribute and sell petroleum products in Sri Lanka, the minister tweeted.

A further 50 fuel stations at New locations will be established by each selected company, he added.

In June 2022, the Cabinet of Ministers had green-lighted the proposal to open up Sri Lanka’s fuel import and retail sales market to companies from oil-producing nations.

In October the same year, the Petroleum Products (Special Provisions) Bill, paving way for new suppliers to enter as importers, distributors and retail operators for petroleum products, was approved by the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Power and Energy.