Oil Buddies

December 18, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is scouting for international experts to help the island hedge part of its hefty oil bill next year, Petroleum Minister A H M Fowzie said Monday. A net oil importer, Sri Lanka’s retail fuel market is dominated by state oil giant Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), while Indian fuel […]

Energy Link

December 14, 2006 (LBO) – India and Sri Lanka are due to ink a million dollar agreement as early as next year to set up a mega transmission power line between both nations, an official said Thursday. Linked between India’s city of Madurai and Sri Lanka’s Anuradhapura, the project aims to supply up to 1000 […]

Better Deal

Dec 05 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s small hydro developers are in talks with the government for a new electricity tariff, to be finalised in about a month, as mini-hydro electricity becomes more expensive to develop. There are currently about 100 megawatts of small hydro plants generating 300 million units of electricity a year, connected to […]

Light Load

December 2, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka plans to build a 300 megawatte liquefied natural gas plant with Iranian assistance, the government said Saturday. “Iran is highly developed in power plant manufacturing industry and is able to meet the domestic requirement of power plant construction. Sri Lanka power industry can benefit through mutual cooperation between […]

Horrible Dream

November 29, 2006 (LBO) – Indian fuel retailer Lanka IOC Ltd sank deeper into the red posting a 605 million net loss during the quarter ending Sept., as it is yet to collect billions of rupees from the Sri Lankan government for selling fuel below costs. A unit of the Fortune 500 Indian Oil Corp. […]

Southern Airport

WEERAWILA, Sri Lanka, Nov 19, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president Sunday marked his first year in office by launching work on a new international airport to handle the giant Airbus A380 airliner and pledging a major new port.President Mahinda Rajapakse laid the foundation stone for a 125-million-dollar, 4,000-metre (13,200-feet) upgrade to a small airport […]

Grid Failure

Nov 15 (LBO) – Sri Lanka was blacked out for nearly two hours Wednesday as the national grid shut down during the even peak demand hour.Power failed in most parts of the island except areas like Jaffna which is isolated from the national grid and Trincomalee in the east, residents said.Power failed shortly after 7.30 […]

No Cash

Nov 07 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is to ask Reliance Industries of India and Petronas of Malaysia for extended credit on fuel purchases, to ease recent pressure on the exchange rate. Meanwhile, the government is also considering offering targeted subsidies for kerosene to Samurdhi beneficiaries, while allowing Ceypetco to sell at market rates, an official […]

Fiscal Fiasco

November 14, 2006 (LBO) – The massive fiscal cost and the subsequent body blow delivered to the economy of Sri Lanka by indiscriminate fuel subsidies from early 2004 had received the attention of international economic researchers. A study by researchers at the International Monetary Fund has found that 74.9 percent of the money spent on […]

Affordable Rides

October 25, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Wednesday cut retail fuel prices, to ease living costs and inflationary pressures, though the treasury still owes the state petroleum giant over 13 billion rupees. With effective midnight, petrol at the pump will be priced 5.00 rupees less at 92.00 rupees, and diesel goes down 2.00 rupees to […]

Little Choice

October 10, 2006 (LBO) – Indian fuel retailer Lanka IOC is due to receive 5.16 billion rupees in cash and bonds from the government as settlement for having sold fuel below costs, officials said Tuesday. At present around 15 of the 99 tanks in the farm are operational. However as business develops, LIOC plans to […]

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