The decision to shut down the Sapugaskanda Oil Refinery for 50 days was taken in order to manage foreign exchange Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila said at a media briefing today.
He further said that fro this decision instead of producing less demanded avaition fuel and Naptha foreign exchange could be saved from importing refined fuel as well as other essential commodities.
The Minister further said that the closure of the oil refinery would not be a hindrance to fuel supply. It was a decision taken to effectively manage the country’s limited foreign reserves.
He further stated that there is no risk of any fuel shortage in the country due to the closure of Sapugaskanda.
He also stated:
“I warned at a press conference on September 29 and it was decided to close the Sapugaskanda oil refinery. We had to take this decision because the limited amount of foreign exchange in the country should be properly managed by focusing only on the importation of essential commodities. “
“Our oil refinery is 51 years old. Thirty percent of this oil refinery produces fossil fuels and naphtha. Both are used in power generation. Another 19 percent is produced from aviation fuel and kerosene.
Only 43 percent is produced by petrol and diesel.
Due to heavy rains these days, 50 percent of electricity generation is generated from water. Therefore, the CEB has informed us that there is no need for fuel.
From an airplane standpoint, short-haul aircraft can carry fuel from the starting point. Long-haul aircraft need fuel from Colombo. As such, it has been decided to stop the import of crude oil which produces 56 percent of the non-essential fuel oil and aviation fuel and to divert the limited foreign exchange spent on it to essential commodities such as petrol, diesel and essential food gas.
The Sapugaskanda oil refinery supplies only 14 percent of the petrol requirement. 29% of the total diesel demand. Importing this quantity as petrol and diesel is important in foreign exchange management.
As soon as this foreign exchange crisis is resolved we will start importing crude oil. We expect to close the refinery for a maximum of 50 days.
We explained this situation at a press conference on September 29. This is not fresh news.
