The Hambantota Refinery (also called Greenfield Oil Refinery) is an oil refinery to be developed in Mirijjawila, Hambantota, in the Southern Province of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. The refinery will be built and owned by Singapore's (70%) and Oman's Ministry of Oil and Gas (30%). Silver Park International is an investment vehicle owned by India's Accord Group. It will have a refining capacity of per stream day, ten times the capacity of the

Sapugaskanda Refinery The Sapugaskanda Refinery (also referred to as Sapugaskanda Oil Refinery) is the single largest oil refinery of Sri Lanka. The refinery was built by Iran under the guidance of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation in August 1969, initially designed to ...

, the country's only other refinery which was built in 1969 by Iran. At a cost of , the refinery development is the single largest

foreign direct investment A foreign direct investment (FDI) is an investment in the form of a controlling ownership in a business in one country by an entity based in another country. It is thus distinguished from a foreign portfolio investment by a notion of direct co ...

in Sri Lanka's history. Construction of the first phase will commence on 24 March 2019 at a groundbreaking ceremony in the Mirijjawila Export Processing Zone, with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe attending as chief guest, with the project slated for completion in 44 months. Almost the entire output from the refinery will be exported, generating an estimated annual revenue of . However, CEYPETCO and Lanka IOC could bid for refined petroleum products at competitive prices to supply to local consumers.

Storage and export

Under construction first phase, will be assigned to construct the

oil terminal An oil terminal (also called a tank farm, tankfarm, oil installation or oil depot) is an industrial facility for the storage of oil, petroleum and petrochemical Petrochemicals (sometimes abbreviated as petchems) are the chemical products obt ...

, pipeline, and other infrastructure. The oil terminal will be able to store of

crude oil Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...

, and around of refined petroleum products. Exports from the refinery will be channelled through the now Chinese-owned

Hambantota Port The Hambantota International Port (used to known as the Magampura Mahinda Rajapaksa Port or the Magam Ruhunupura Mahinda Rajapaksa Port) is a deep water port in Hambantota, Sri Lanka. It was opened on 18 November 2010, and is Sri Lanka's second ...

, which has been mostly idle for nearly a decade since being built. The port, initially state-owned, has been leased to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

in 2017 for 99 years, after Sri Lanka was unable to service a loan from Beijing.

History

* Before 2017, a per stream day refinery was agreed to be built at Trincomalee by

Indian Oil Corporation Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL; d/b/a IndianOil) is a central public sector undertaking under the ownership of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India. It is headquartered in New Delhi. It is a public sector unde ...

, although no progress has been made since. * In September 2017, Sri Lanka engaged in talks with two Chinese companies for a $3 billion refinery in Hambantota. * During President Maithripala Sirisena's official visit to Tehran, cabinet spokesman

Rajitha Senaratne Nambukara Helambage Rajitha Harischandra Senaratne (born 29 May 1950) is a Sri Lankan dentist, politician, member of parliament and former cabinet minister. He is currently a member of parliament representing Kalutara district Early life and fam ...

stated that Iran has agreed to build a refinery and will send a team for assessments. * 19 March 2019, Sri Lanka confirms refinery with Singapore's and Oman's Ministry of Oil and Gas. * 21 March 2019, Oman denies ever being aware of the refinery deal. Director General of Sri Lanka's state-run Board of Investment, Champika Malalgoda, then stated that the project would still go ahead, although without clarification on this situation or how the missing investment would be covered.

References

{{Electricity in Sri Lanka Buildings and structures in Hambantota District Oil refineries in Sri Lanka

Storage and export

History

See also

References