Sri Lanka’s Sapugaskanda oil refinery to be closed due to forex shortage

The Sapugaskanda Oil Refinery will be closed from today (October 07) due to the shortage in foreign exchange for crude oil cargo, announced Sri Lanka’s Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera.

He however said that there will be no shortage in refined products as the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CEYPETCO) has adequate stocks of all fuel products.

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) has made available the weekly Forex requirements for refined products, said Minister Kanchana Wijesekera.

The minister said that the shortage of forex for payment of two Ural crude cargos already used at the refinery has led to the decision to close down the refinery.

As soon as adequate forex is available to CEYPETCO, the 100,000 metric tonnes of ESPO crude oil cargo in Sri Lankan waters for the last 10 days will be unloaded, he further said in a tweet.