• Crude oil shipment delayed due to lack of funds
• No shortage of fuel adequate stocks available

By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana

The Sapugaskanda refinery is to be closed as a shipment of crude oil had to be delayed because there was no way of making a payment for it, Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekara said yesterday.  

“Three shipments of crude oil were ordered in the recent past and the government managed to make payments for two shipments. However, there are no funds to pay for the third one. Therefore we have no option but to close the refinery temporarily,” the Minister said. 

However, he assured that there won’t be any shortage of fuel as there are adequate stocks of fuel available at the moment.  “There is no reason to panic,” he said.