Category: Petroleum

MADRID, Apr. 20 (AFP) – Consumers should carry the burden of higher oil prices, International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Rodrigo Rato said in an interview published Thursday by the Spanish daily El Pais. Rato said it would be necessary to “pass on new energy prices to consumers”, and added: “There is a very clear message, […]

TEHRAN, Iran, Apr.19 (AFP) – Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called on oil producers, in particular fellow OPEC members, to sell a part of their crude production to poor countries at “better prices”, the ISNA news agency reported Wednesday.“Oil producing countries, in particular OPEC members, could determine quotas for poor consumers with better prices,” the […]

LONDON, Apr.18 (AFP) – World oil prices hit record peaks on Tuesday above 72.0 dollars in London and close to 71.0 dollars in New York as the market fretted over possible military conflict between the United States and Iran.The price of New York’s light sweet crude hit a historic high of 70.88 dollars per barrel, […]

Apr.15 (LBO) – Sri Lanka hikes fuel prices by Rs.8.00 from midnight Saturday after a 10-month lag as world crude oil prices raced to US$ 70 per barrel. Petrol at the pump will cost Rs.88.00, diesel, Rs.58.00 and kerosene Rs.38.50, Ceylon Petroleum Corp. (CPC) Chairman Jaliya Medagama said. The Rs.8.00 across the board hike also […]

Apr.11 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s finance ministry says fuel subsidies are placing an unsustainable burden on the exchequer; in a move analysts expect to be a precursor to an upcoming round of retail fuel price hikes. “In 2005, the government had to spend Rs25 billion to sell fuel below cost,” a statement from the Ministry […]

Apr.06 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has sought a US$500 million loan from Saudi Arabia to double its oil refinery capacity, Energy Minister A H M Fowzie said Thursday. State-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) had presented a concept paper to the Saudi government, when a ministerial delegation visited the oil kingdom recently. “We asked for a […]

April 03 (LBO) — Pelwatte Sugar has applied to the Ceylon Electricity Board to build a 25MegaWatt power plant fired by sugar cane waste, making it the largest dendro power plant proposed in Sri Lanka up to now.The company submitted the application after a recent cabinet decision raised the limit for buying power from dendro […]

Mar. 31 (LBO) – Small hydro company Vallibel Power Erathne, that opens its share issue on April 6, is bullish on Sri Lanka’s hydro and other renewable energy prospects, despite climbing costs. The Vallibel Power group operates 18.9 megawatts in small hydro plants, with plans to go up to 45 MegaWatts over the next few […]

Mar. 23 (LBO) — Sri Lanka’s cabinet of ministers had approved a deal for the state-owned Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) to team up with India’s National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) in a joint venture coal plant, Power Minister John Seneviratne said Wednesday.The cabinet has approved the provisions of a draft Memorandum of Understanding, which will […]

Mar. 22 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has changed the license fee structure for lubricant operators giving players an option of paying a flat fee or a percentage on turnover, Petroleum Minister M H M Fowzie said. -Mel Gunasekera: mel@ Sri Lanka doubled license fees for lubricant operators in January, fixing it at Rs10 million (US$100,000) […]

Mar 22 (LBO) – Lanka Transformers were given a first subsidy payment on Wednesday for generating electricity from trees, under a new scheme to encourage investment in renewable power. Wood or dendro power producers are being given Rs2.50 a unit, to top up current rates of Rs6.00 that the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) pays independent […]