Sri Lanka is pressing ahead with the development of the China Bay oil storage facility, near Trincomalee.

 

The Sri Lankan government wants to turn Trincomalee into a regional petroleum hub with the help of India. The north-eastern port was severely affected during the 30 war civil war between the government in Colombo and Tamil separatists based in the north and east of the island state.

 

Secretary to the Ministry of Power and Energy, Dr BMS Batagoda told the newspaper Business Times that a 10-member task force was working on a business plan aimed at harnessing the full potential of the tank farm.

 

He noted that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to the island in March this year has pledged to help Sri Lanka to turn Trincomalee into a petroleum hub.

 

The Lanka Indian Oil Corporation (LIOC) and the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) have agreed to develop jointly the Upper Tank Farm at China Bay. These tanks were built by the British in 1944 but had been lying idle since the end of World War Two.

 

LIOC already uses 14 tanks in the Lower Tank Farm and it will soon take over the upper tank farm with 84 larger tanks.

 

 

18th May 2015