CPC plans to export furnace oil after heavy rains
COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) will call tenders to sell furnace oil and naphtha produced at its refinery after heavy rains reduced fuel demand for power generation, Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said.
The refinery produces about 1,400 to 1,500 metric tonnes of naphtha a day, but industrial customers, other than the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) only bought about 200 to 300 metric tonnes a day.
The CPC had now stockpiled 69,000 metric tonnes of the product but only has space available for about 90,000 metric tonnes.
“An option is to stop the refinery but it also produces diesel, petrol and jet fuel,” Minister Wijesekera said.
The CEB was hardly using furnace oil and naptha and the other option was to export the heavy fuels.
“We hope to avoid a loss or make a small profit in the export,” he said.
Sri Lanka’s refinery built in the last century produces somewhat higher volumes of naphtha and furnace oil compared to modern ones using more advanced cracking technology.
-economynext.com
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