The Cabinet of Ministers has approved call for expressions of interest for the identification and selection of suitable investors for the development and expansion of the Sapugaskanda oil refinery complex.

Speaking during today’s (11) Cabinet press conference, Cabinet Spokesman Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa said that although the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation has made various efforts to modernize and upgrade the Sapugaskanda oil refinery both quantitatively and qualitatively to fulfill the demand of the market, all those efforts have not been successful. 

Even though Cabinet approval has been granted to establish the Sapugaskanda oil refinery as a public enterprise separate from the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation and to identify an appropriate strategic investment partner and to take necessary steps after investigation of the possibility for the establishment of a new oil refinery in the Trincomalee area for that purpose, no action has been taken in that respect so far, the Minister noted.

Furthermore, he added that under the policy framework relevant to the energy of the present government, the modernization of the existing refinery or construction of a new refinery has been identified as a priority function and that approval has been granted by the board of directors of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation to call for expressions of interest to identify a suitable investment partner based on the feasibility study conducted in the year 2022. 

Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Power and Energy to develop the Sapugaskanda oil refinery and call for expressions of interest for the identification and selection of suitable financial suppliers/investors for the implementation of the project for the establishment of a new refinery within the same premises with a capacity of 100,000 barrels per day on the basis of an operation and transfer (BOT).