Fuel Lines

March 19, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is converting a part of a tank farm to store bunkers or ship fuel and build new pipelines to reduce supply disruptions in a plan that will also see new fuel supply lines being built for power stations, an official said. State-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) is planning to enter the bunker market soon with a private joint venture partner, who will supply barges allowing it to service ships in the open sea.

The tank farms and pipelines are jointly owned by CPC with Indian Oil Corporation through Ceylon Petroleum Storage Terminals Ltd (CPSTL), a common user facility.

Inadequate onshore ship fuel or bunker storage is seen as the main constraint in expanding the market to supply vessels that call at Colombo port as well as those that pass the island.

Storage terminals at Muthurajawela and Kolonnawa north of Colombo have a total capacity of storing 250,000 metric tonnes of refined products.

Crude oil is stored at the refinery at Sapugaskande, also north of Colombo, and at the nearby Orugodawatte tank farm.

Tank Conversion

The tank farm at Muthurajawela can now store only diesel and kerosene.

CPSTL officials said they plan to convert five tanks to furnace oil (bunker fuel) and