A team of officials and technical experts from the Chinese oil and gas enterprise, Sinopec, have visited Sri Lanka to finalize the agreements and commencement of operations for retail fuel sales, Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera said.
Taking to Twitter, Minister Wijesekera stated that he met the officials yesterday at the ministry to discuss a timeline, conditions on the agreement, and other concerns.
During the discussion, it was decided to sign the agreements by mid-May and commence operations 45 days from the signing, he said.
The Minister further stated that officials from the Ministry of Power and Energy, Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), and Ceylon Petroleum Storage Terminals Limited (CPSTL) participated in the talks.
Earlier in April the government announced that China’s Sinopec, United Petroleum of Australia, and RM Parks of USA are slated to enter Sri Lanka’s retail market under a collaboration with Shell PLC.
It was reported 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)