Tag: Petroleum

Dec 10, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa rejected a price-formula for fuel amidst growing public displeasure at exorbitant pump prices set by government for both petrol and diesel. Opposition activists had already gone to court asking for relief on petrol over-pricing in particular. Official data shows that the wholesale price of refined […]

Dec 09, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan industrial exporters say the lack of a transparent price formula especially for diesel has increased their production cost against foreign competitors, especially at a time when the rupee is also overvalued. In Sri Lanka petroleum pricing has become heavily politicized since 2004, after the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, a […]

NEW YORK, December 4, 2008 (AFP) – Oil prices tumbled to their weakest levels in nearly four years Thursday as investors fixated on mounting signs of recession in the global economy. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude for January delivery settled at 43.67 dollars a barrel, down 3.12 dollars from Wednesday’s close.It […]

Dec 05, 2008 (LBO) – The government said it will reduce fuel retail prices from midnight Friday in line with falling global oil prices and ahead of a court hearing on domestic fuel pricing.Prime minister Ratnasiri Wickremenayake told parliament that the price of a litre of petrol will be cut by 20 rupees and furnace […]

Nov 03, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state is operating a black market taking an estimated 54 billion rupees a year in profits and discriminatory taxes from petrol users, an opposition parliamentarian has said. Ravi Karunanayake, a member of the opposition United National Party told reporters the landed cost of petrol in Colombo, including freight […]

Nov 30, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s petroleum ministry has not yet been taken over by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, following a court ruling by the Supreme Court, a media report said Sunday. The Sunday Times newspaper, quoting petroleum minister A H M Fowzie said he had not received any instructions from the country’s president. The […]

Nov 28, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s supreme court has ordered the state-owned oil refiner, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), to suspend controversial hedge payments to banks until a central bank probe into the matter is over. CPC chairman Ashantha de Mel has maintained that the deals were done on cabinet instructions which had not allowed […]

Nov 27, 2008 (LBO) – A team of Sri Lankan ministers is probing an oil hedge that could lose hundreds of millions of dollars to a state-run oil retailer amidst claims that the oil retailer had not informed the cabinet clearly about risks of derivatives trading. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog […]

Nov 21, 2008 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan government has increased the customs duty on imported petrol by 10 rupees per litre to 35 rupees from yesterday, a senior Treasury official says. We are increasing the taxes to trim the extra profits the two petroleum companies are making with the sudden drop in world energy […]

LONDON, November 12, 2008 (AFP) – Oil prices sank under 53 dollars a barrel here on Wednesday, hitting the lowest level since January 2007, as traders worried about weaker demand for energy amid a gloomy economic outlook.In afternoon London trade, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in December plunged to 52.88 dollars a barrel, a […]