Reply To:
Name - Reply Comment
Crude oil pipeline breaks down
Unloading of crude oil has been delayed because of the sudden breakdown in the pipe line that leads to the Colombo Port, the Petroleum Ministry said today.
The ministry however assured there wouldn’t be any shortage because a ship carrying 135,000 metric tonnes of crude oil was in the port.
The Petroleum Resources Ministry said there was no need to panic as there were adequate stocks of fuel, but some workers attached to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) said the situation was far more serious and that there could be a shortage.
A statement from the ministry said the refinery was temporarily shut down as there had been a sudden breakdown of the pipeline that is connected to a buoy and is used for unloading crude oil in the Colombo Port. The ministry averred that there would be no shortage as a ship carrying 135,000 metric tons of crude oil was already in Sri Lankan waters.
The ministry said a ship with 135,000 tons of petrol had also reached Colombo Port on August 29 and another with 40,000 tons of diesel fuel had also entered the port. “There are sufficient stocks of petrol, diesel and aviation fuel at the moment,” the statement said.
Ananda Palitha, the secretary of the CPC branch of the Jathika Sevaka Sangamaya told Daily Mirror that the current stock of Arabian light crude oil which was approximately 125,000 metric tons could produce only 150 metric tons of diesel fuel and 500 metric tons of aviation fuel. He said it was possible to produce 1,500 metric tons of refined fuel per day from the Iranian light crude oil that had been used earlier but it was only possible to produce 700 metric tons of refined fuel per day from the current stock of Arabian Light. He, therefore, said the amount of fuel that could be produced from the available stock of crude oil was 60 percent less than the usual amount.
Mr. Palitha also alleged that it would take at least five days to unload petrol and diesel from the two ships that were in the Colombo Port. He therefore warned that there could be a shortage. (YP)
Comments - 23
Recommended
You May Also Like
Trending
