Sapugaskanda Oil Refinery reopens tomorrow

Dharma Sri Abeyratne and Ishara Mudugamuwa

The oil refinery at Sapugaskanda will be reopened tomorrow, Petroleum Industries Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa said. Addressing the Cabinet press briefing at the Information Department yesterday, Minister Yapa said the refinery was shut down due to the lack of crude oil.

“The Sapugaskanda Oil Refinery was set up to purify Iranian light oil. Sri Lanka has not been importing crude oil from Iran since mid-2012 following US economic sanctions,” he said. Minister Yapa said United National Party General Secretary Tissa Attanayake recently made an unpatriotic statement regarding Iranian crude oil importation.

Iranian light oil importation was stopped in 2012 due to US economic sanction. Since then, the government has made a huge effort to find out suitable crude oil for the Sapugaskanda Refinery, he said.

“Thereafter, we imported Oman Blend. But we could not get sufficient oil after the refinery process. After that we looked for another source. We were informed that light oil was available in Nigeria, Libya and Abu Dhabi. After examining the oil samples, we decided to import oil from Abu Dhabi. Fifty barrels of crude oil will be imported before May 24,” the minister said.

“Import is done through a procurement process. People who do not have a clear idea about this, make fancy statements regarding oil import,” he said.

Yapa said the Sapugaskanda Oil Refinery has the capacity to produce only 50 percent of the country’s oil requirement. “Therefore, it is necessary to establish another refinery to cater to the total demand,” he said.