The trade unions point out that the Sapugaskanda oil refinery will have to be closed from tomorrow (20) due to the depletion of crude oil imported to the country. Ananda Palitha, Media Spokesman of the Oil-Ports-Electricity Joint Trade Union Alliance says that the stocks of crude oil required for the operation of the refinery have not been imported in the coming days.
Accordingly, the oil refinery will have to close down indefinitely, he said.
If the oil refinery closes, Sri Lanka will face another round of fuel crisis, which will require the import of kerosene and even jet fuel. In addition, due to the closure of the oil refinery, 2000 metric tons of fuel oil used for power generation will be lost and accordingly power generation will have to be further restricted, said Ananda Palitha.
Ananda Palitha points out that even if the oil refinery is closed, maintenance work will have to be done from time to time and employees will have to pay overtime for it, adding that it will be an additional burden for the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation which is facing a major financial crisis.
