Sapugaskanda refinery earns $417 million profit in nine months: CPC chairman

Newswire reports that CPC chairman D.J. Rajakaruna said the Sapugaskanda Oil Refinery generated US$417 million in profit in the first nine months of the year. Ada Derana likewise reports a US$417 million profit for the refinery during that period.

Newswire reports that Rajakaruna spoke in an interview arranged by the Department of Government Information. He said a Cabinet-approved decision had previously set the refinery for closure and taken it out of CPC, and that its operations had brought Sri Lanka more than US$1 billion in foreign-exchange savings across the nine months.

Newswire reports that Rajakaruna put CPC’s profit for the first nine months at Rs. 28 billion. He said the corporation was following a planned approach and projected a full-year profit between Rs. 28 billion and Rs. 30 billion.

Newswire reports that Rajakaruna said CPC was tracking recent movements in international fuel prices and intended to pass any resulting savings to consumers once available. He compared prices with February, reporting petrol at Rs. 424 per litre, up from Rs. 292, and auto diesel at Rs. 397, up from Rs. 281. He said domestic increases were smaller than global market rises because of government subsidies.

Newswire reports that Rajakaruna said diesel received a subsidy of Rs. 100 per litre and petrol Rs. 20 per litre in April, May and June. He also reported a diesel subsidy of Rs. 70 per litre in the preceding month and Rs. 41 billion allocated for subsidies in the current month.