Quick Sand

July 9, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will continue to subsidise retail fuel prices in the absence of a new pricing formula, as Colombo threatened to takeover Indian Oil Corp’s local unit if they fail to resume gasoline sales, officials said Sunday. Sri Lanka is a net oil importer, with fuel shipments doubling to 1.6 […]

Oil Conundrum

July 9, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s main opposition charged that weak economic management was the cause of galloping inflation in the country and not oil prices.“The government is hiding behind the bunker of oil price rises and driving up inflation by printing money and banks borrowings,” United National Parliamentarian and former Deputy Finance Minister […]

Cheap Cheap

June 30, 2006 (LBO) – Ceylon Petroleum Corp or Ceypetco has developed a lower octane gasoline for use in three wheelers, motorbikes, the island’s sole oil refiner said Friday. The ‘RON 87 petrol’ has been developed by CPC scientists and engineers to ensure three-wheelers have the right formula for fuel. CPC says three-wheeler taxis can […]

Light Savings

June 29 (LBO) – All consumers who save electricity will get a 10 percent discount on their next bill, while low usage will also be rewarded with free energy saving bulbs. The first 30 units will be exempt, while usage between 31 and 90 units will be charged an extra one rupee a unit, and […]

Burning Low

June 18, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lankans have been urged to crawl under the sheets early, turn up the heat on air-conditioners and give up late night football to save energy¦..or not. But despite the best laid plans, “what people really respond to is price”, Siyambalapitiya says, over any real goodwill to dim the lights […]

Simmering Heat

SINGAPORE, June 12, 2006 (AFP) – Oil prices were easier in Asian trade Monday, with the market waiting for the next lead on tensions over Iran’s controversial nuclear programme after a fresh spike Friday, dealers said. At 10:30 am (0230 GMT), New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for July delivery, was down 11 cents […]

Top Secret

June 12, 2006 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan government is to ink a deal with Lanka Indian Oil Corp, towards the end of this month, to amend the petroleum pricing formula, officials said. “The small changes to the pricing formula are part of the agreement we reached with the Sri Lanka government on settling the […]

Slow Trot

June 10, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka raise fuel prices from midnight Saturday after a two-month lag to offset a surge in global oil prices, a top official said. Sri Lankan guzzles around 30 million litres of petrol, 130 million litres of diesel and 18 million litres of kerosene each month. -by Mel Gunasekera The […]

Olive Branch

June 9, 2006 (LBO) — Sri Lanka plans to repay millions of dollars due to the troubled fuel retailer Lanka IOC, in cash and bonds to meet immediate purchases of petrol stocks, the Indian firm said Friday. To date, Colombo owes the Indian fuel retailer over 76 million dollars in unpaid subsidies for selling fuel […]

Oil Strikes

NEW DELHI, June 6, 2006 (AFP) – A sharp hike in Indian fuel prices sparked uproar against the government Tuesday as both its communist allies and the main opposition Hindu nationalist party vowed nationwide protests. Even senior members of the ruling Congress party demanded the rollback of the rise aimed at bringing fuel prices closer […]

Desperate Times

June 06 (LBO) – Lanka Indian Oil Corporation has asked the Treasury for a billion rupees of its unpaid subsidy bill to buy fuel, as petrol stocks threaten to run dry in two days. The government owes the company Rs. 7.44 billion in unpaid subsidies as at end March this year, with the firm saying […]

Sri Lanka gets a new country head for World Bank

June 2, 2006 (LBO) – Naoko Ishii will take over as country director of the World Bank in August from the incumbent Peter Harrold, the bank said Friday. Harrold, a British national, ends his four-year tenure in July. Ishii, a Japanese national, has been a Director in the Japanese Ministry of Finance since 2002 where […]

Page 523 of 675