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| Sunday, 4 December 2005 |
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More money to boost oil refinery by Anura Maitipe The new government has taken initiatives to increase the refining capacity of oil in the country by 40 percent with an investment of USD 700 million, Transport and Mineral resources Minister A. H. M. Fowzie told the Sunday Observer. Sri Lanka imports annually Rs 135 billion worth of oil and out of this only 60 percent is refined at Sapugaskanda oil refinery. The rest 40 per cent oil is imported as a refined product. This has created an additional burden on the state coffers to the tune of Rs. 30 billion annually to import refined oil, he pointed out. The new government has taken initiatives to enhance refining capacity at Sapugaskanda by another 40 per cent in order to meet the full refined oil needs of the country, he explained. With the installation of a new plant foreign exchange could be saved and the Petroleum Corporation could be made a more viable and profitable state owned enterprise, minister pointed out. Meanwhile Petroleum Corporation Chairman Jaliya Medagama said, if the corporation is to be more viable then refining capacity should be increased. In fact it should have been done many years ago, he noted. The Chinese government had once offered financial assistance of USD 400 million to enhance refining capacity of Sapugaskanda. However this much needed project was not materialised and the then government set aside this proposal on the grounds that country had no funds to service this loan, he said. |
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