Category: Petroleum

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 […]

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 […]

October 5, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Thursday cut retail fuel prices, but raised prices for alcohol and cigarettes, as the government disclosed plans to raise defence expenses and hike overall spending by over 40 percent next year. In addition, defence spending is to climb by 45 percent to 139.5 billion rupees, with military procurements […]

SINGAPORE, Oct 5, 2006 (AFP) – Oil prices rebounded in Asian trade Thursday, coming off near 8-month lows on continuing unrest in Nigeria and amid reports that OPEC members are ready to cut production in a bid to support the market, dealers said. At 11:25 am (0325 GMT) New York’s main contract, light sweet crude […]

Oct 04, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will flag off two new power plants in Kerawalapitiya, at least one of them run to on liquefied natural gas. But the island is still looking down the barrel of power cuts over the next two years. Sri Lanka’s energy demand is expected to grow at about eleven […]

October 03 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is in talks with Saudi Arabia to secure over 500 million dollars to expand the island’s oil refining capacity, with the state oil company hoping to fast track the project. “We are currently carrying out a feasibility study for the project and are also in talks with the Saudi […]

WASHINGTON, Oct 3, 2006 (AFP) – The low-cost allure of emerging economies for Western companies is overdone once the meagre productivity of their workers is factored in, a US business group said Tuesday.The Conference Board said that fast-growing economies in China, India and eastern Europe do enjoy a comparative advantage over the United States. But […]

September 30, 2006 (LBO) — Ceylon Petroleum Corp. (CPC) Chairman Jaliya Medagama resigned Saturday citing personal reasons. Medagama will be succeeded by ex-cricketer Asantha de Mel. De Mel, who is currently the chairman of CPCs oil storage and distribution facility, is also believed to have close links with President Mahinda Rajapakse. In July, petroleum trade […]

Sept 28, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka should hedge oil prices to mitigate negative effects on the economy, by entering into contracts with foreign banks, the country’s central bank said in a statement. The Central Bank said it had made a presentation in early September to the President and Cabinet of Ministers to explain schemes […]

Sept 27, 2006 (LBO) – India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp and British Gas have bought up seismic data on potential oil deposits off Sri Lanka’s west coast, for two million dollars. Investors interested in potential oil reserves in the Mannar Basin could buy data from the Sri Lankan government, ahead of a bidding round […]

Sept 27 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state oil giant Ceypetco dropped fuel prices on Wednesday to appease trade unions, but has been helped by falling world prices of crude oil. Sri Lanka is expected to pay over 2.0 billion dollars this year, up from 1.6 billion last year for oil imports. (corrected) Sri Lanka’s minister […]