The first fuel cargo of China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) has commenced discharging and the second cargo will arrive tomorrow, Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera said today.
Taking to Twitter, the Minister stated that the entry of new retail suppliers to the domestic market will ease the forex requirements for petroleum products.
He further stated this was so as the suppliers will bring in products on a 12-month financing facility from their principal investors with no forex requirements from the domestic financial institutes.
Sinopec will commence retail petroleum operations with 150 fuel stations islandwide once the agreements with the fuel station dealers are signed and finalized, the Minister added.
In May 2023, the contract agreement to permit Sinopec to enter Sri Lanka’s fuel retail market was signed at the Presidential Secretariat of Sri Lanka.
The agreement was signed after negotiations were completed with Sinopec Fuel Oil Lanka (Pvt) Ltd and its parent company in China and Singapore in this regard.
The negotiations focused on awarding a long-term contract regarding the importation, storage, distribution, and sale of petroleum products in Sri Lanka.
The signing of the contract comes after the government announced in April that China’s Sinopec, United Petroleum of Australia, and RM Parks of the USA are slated to enter Sri Lanka’s retail market under a collaboration with Shell PLC.
It was reported at the time that they will be given licences with a validity of 20 years to import, store and distribute fuel in Sri Lanka, while they will also be provided 150 CPC fuel stations under the scheme. (NewsWire)
