Sapugaskanda refinery to be closed due to forex shortage

The Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera says that the Sapugaskanda refinery will be closed from today due to the shortage in foreign exchange for crude oil cargos. 

However, there will be no shortage in refined products as the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) has adequate stocks of all products and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) has made available the weekly forex requirements for refined products, he said.

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 CPC, 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.