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REUTERS/Chris Helgren/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsCOLOMBO, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka will likely approve on Monday a proposal from Chinese state refiner Sinopec to build a $4.5-billion-dollar refinery, the South Asian island nation's energy minister said on Saturday. Sri Lanka, trying to recover from its worst economic crisis in more than 70 years, is hungry for new investment and local fuel supplies. The investment will add to Sinopec's recently started fuel retailing business, the third international company with a foothold in Sri Lanka, with a license to operates 150 petrol stations. Sinopec's fuel oil division, which runs the retail business there, began in 2019 supplying marine bunker fuel at Hambantota, another Sinopec official said. Sri Lanka's refinery at Sapugaskanda, commissioned in 1969, can process 38,000 barrels of oil a day.

Persons: Chris Helgren, Kanchana Wijesekera, Wijesekera, Vitol, Uditha Jayasinghe, Chen Aizhu, Krishn Kaushik, William Mallard Organizations: China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, REUTERS, Rights, and Energy, Reuters, Sri, China Merchant Port Holdings, Initiative, China Merchants, Thomson Locations: Vancouver , British Columbia, Canada, Sri Lanka, China's, Saudi Arabia, Russia, China, Colombo, Sinopec, Hambantota, Europe, Asia, Lanka's, Sapugaskanda

☆ Sri Lanka hikes power prices by 66% hoping to gain IMF support
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Sri Lanka increased electricity prices by 66% on Thursday, in a move that the government hoped would persuade the International Monetary Fund to provide urgent support for its crisis stricken economy. The scale of the price rise will heap misery on Sri Lankans already struggling with inflation running at 54.2%. "We know that this will be hard on the public, especially the poor but Sri Lanka is caught in a financial crisis and we have no choice but to move towards cost reflective pricing," Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera told reporters. "We hope that with this step Sri Lanka has moved closer to getting the IMF programme." The size of the price rise was confirmed by a Ceylon Electricity Board official.

[1/3] Drivers push auto rickshaws in a line to buy petrol from a fuel station amid Sri Lanka's economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, July 29, 2022. India's foreign ministry did not respond to questions from Reuters on its plans and strategic aims in Sri Lanka. New Delhi has long been concerned about China's clout in its neighbourhood, including Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. "And as far as Sri Lanka is concerned, we don't want to contribute to any escalation of tension between any countries." "Sri Lanka has clearly benefited from being the closest neighbour to the most powerful country in the region.

☆ Sri Lanka approves law to liberalize petroleum imports
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Uditha Jayasinghe | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

COLOMBO, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka approved legislation on Tuesday to let companies from oil-producing nations import and sell fuel as it attempts to cope with a steep oil bill that deepened its worst financial crisis in decades. "Due to the country's financial situation we cannot afford to purchase the fuel that we need. Sri Lanka is in the middle of a serious energy crisis." State-run banks have also struggled to repay about $751 million it owes to suppliers, the minister said. The new legislation will liberalize the petroleum industry allowing international companies to directly import and sell fuel in Sri Lanka and reduce reliance on the country's meagre dollar supplies.

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