Crude oil available for Sapugaskanda, but required output not up to scratch

By Shiran Ranasinghe

The Sapugaskanda Oil Refinery was not providing adequate amounts of diesel and naphtha to power plants although ships carrying over 300,000 tonnes of crude had arrived in the country, the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) engineers said. They said power cuts could have been reduced if adequate amounts of diesel and naphtha had been provided.

Engineers said the Kelanitissa Combined Cycle Power Plant, refurbished at a cost of several million dollars, was not operational for want of naphtha. Kelanitissa can produce 165 megawatts of electricity.

Samagi United Trade Union Force (SUTUF) Convener and Media Spokesman Ananda Palitha said close to 200,000 tonnes of crude were available in Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) stores. A ship carrying over 95,000 tonnes of crude was also in the port, he said.

“We have unloaded these ships after making them wait for months. We will have to pay about 17 million US dollars as demurrage. There are technical issues at the Sapugaskanda Oil Refinery because it was shut down several times. It only produces burnt oil, not naphtha,” he said.

President of the Petroleum General Employees Union Ashoka Ranwala said that they had repeatedly warned the government about the dangers of shutting down the Sapugaskanda Oil Refinery on a regular basis.

“We have repeatedly said that refining is a complex process. You can’t shut down refineries for months, restart and get top quality products immediately. Even a coffee vending machine takes a while to produce coffee with the right blend,” he said.