Sinopec Corp enters fuel retailing with 145 stations
China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, popularly known as Sinopec Corp. announced its official entry into Sri Lanka's fuel retail market on Monday, at a felicitation event for local distributors held in Colombo starting fuel supply to the filling stations.
Under the contract between Sinopec China's largest oil refiner, and the Ministry of Power and Energy of Sri Lanka, Sinopec has obtained a 20-year licence to franchise 150 existing filling stations in Sri Lanka and invest in an additional 50 filling stations.
“The company has entered the country and Sinopec has started on 145 fuel stations already. Within the next month, they will complete the next five stations. They are not restricted to these fail stations as and when they need more, we will be looking into it and granting them more fuel stations,” Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara said, addressing the gathering.
With integrated upstream, midstream, and downstream operations, strong oil and petrochemical core businesses, and a complete marketing network Sinopec's entry into the country was facilitated after the cabinet in March, approved a proposal to liberalise the full retail marketing by allowing more players from China, Australia, and the US to enter the Sri Lankan market.
Till 2003, the country's fair retail market was a state of monopoly under the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation when the Indian Oil Corporation was allowed to operate.
With an annual production capacity exceeding 250 million tonnes, Sinopec is
The government increased fuel prices three times in the past year to offset huge losses at Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, which is to undergo a restructuring to be in line with the IMF recommendations.
committed to giving full play to its advantages, providing stable, sustained, and high-quality oil products to the country, a media release by the company said. Sinopec will have to finance oil imports from their own foreign exchange reserves and agree to retain their profits in the country for at least a year.
Sinopec will enter into a site transformation project as agreed with the dealers, modernising the available facilities, and equipment to improve the vibe of Sri Lankan filling stations gradually, confirming their safe and continuous operation.
Simultaneously, Sinopec will innovate its service concepts, introduce trilingual customer service, improve the service quality of filling stations, and optimise the service experience of consumers, the release added.
The government increased fuel prices three times in the past year to offset huge losses at Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, which is to undergo a restructuring to be in line with the IMF recommendations.