Sri Lanka plans to further lease out the 14 Lanka IOC-operated oil tanks at the Trincomalee Oil Tank Farm to the same company for 50 more years, Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila says.

The lawmaker’s remarks came during a special media briefing held at the Ministry of Energy.

Meanwhile, 61 other tanks are expected to be developed by the newly-established Trinco Petroleum Terminals Limited and Lanka IOC as a joint venture, the minister revealed.

According to him, the CPC will retain 51% of the shares from the joint operation of these 61 tanks while Lanka IOC holds on to 49%.

The oil storage complex in Trincomalee was built by the British during World War II to serve as a refuelling station, however, they fell into disuse after the British ceded power in 1948.

The oil tanks, which are adjacent to the Trincomalee Port are nearly a century old and need to be refurbished if they are to be used again.

Spread across Lower Tank farm and Upper Tank Farm, it consists of 99 storage tanks with a capacity of 12,000 kilolitres each. Fourteen of these tanks are run by Lanka OIC.

Lanka IOC is a subsidiary of Indian Oil Corporation which is under the ownership of India’s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

Minister Gammanpila explained that for the duration of the 50-year lease, 24 tanks will be directly managed by the CPC, 14 by Lanka IOC and the remaining 61 by the Trinco Petroleum Terminal. Thereby, the CPC will have control over 85 of these tanks, he noted.