Ceypetco seeks more oil barrels

1 November 2012 07:16 am Views - 3900

Sri Lanka’s Ceylon Petroleum Corp (Ceypetco) is seeking 870,000 barrels of oil products for delivery in November, as the country’s sole refinery is shut after exhausting its supply of mainly Iranian crude oil, industry sources said yesterday.

Ceypetco’s total oil product imports for November are set to go up to 1.8 million barrels, up nearly three times from its October imports, traders said.

The increase in the company’s requirements is due to a shutdown of its 50,000 barrels-perday refinery for two weeks from October 26, traders said.The refinery, which is configured to run on Iranian crude, has been scrambling to fill a shortfall after it was unable to bring in Iranian crude and had to shut while it waited for crude supply from the Middle East.

In its latest tenders, Ceypetco is seeking 300,000 barrels of 0.25 percent sulphur gasoil for delivery on November 25 and a combination cargo of 135,000 barrels of gasoil and 175,000 barrels of jet fuel for delivery on November 23.It is also seeking 20,000 tonnes (or 130,000 barrels) each of high sulphur fuel oil and low sulphur fuel oil for delivery on November 27.All three tenders close on November 6, with up to 72 hours’ validity.

Sri Lanka’s Petroleum Industries Minister said yesterday the country planned to invite tenders for term supply contracts as it hunts for alternatives to imports of Iranian crude curbed by U.S. sanctions.

(Source : REUTERS)