Lanka IOC, a unit of Indian Oil Corporation, is successfully maintaining 16 oil tanks at the Trincomalee tank farm increasing its supply of fuel from 160 million litres during the 2009/2010 financial year to 260 million litres in 2010/2011. "We are maintaining our supply lines properly," Lanka IOC Managing Director, K.R. Suresh Kumar told the Business Times. He said the Trincomalee tank farm helps to meet the petroleum needs of the North and East. The company has made a substantial investment of Rs.13 billion to acquire the tank farm and is spending a large sum of money for its maintenance.
The infrastructure has been developed which in the long run would bear fruit. A new pipe line has been laid replacing the old one. The Trincomalee terminal will also important for the development of the North and East. The World War II vintage Trincomalee oil tank farm has 99 tanks each with a capacity of 12,250 kilo-litres.
Just over 200 people work at the site and the farm is being considered strategically important for Sri Lanka and India. Referring to the allegations made by employees that the tank farm has been neglected by the company, Mr. Kumar noted that a senior official of the Indian Oil Corporation is now in Trincomalee to inspect the present situation and the maintenance at the tank farm and he will make recommendations for further improvements. Lanka IOC takes every possible step to maintain the Trincomalee tank farm. "Our utilization of the facilities has improved," he said.
Lanka IOC imports petroleum products in two ports at Colombo and Trincomalee and keeps stocks at both places.
A $5 million lube oil blending plant with a capacity of 18,000 tonnes a year is now fully operational, he disclosed. "Even at the beginning stage we are doing pretty well at this plant and blending some 300,000 litres of lubricants a month. We have larger plans for the Trincomalee unit which has 850 acres of land with a very good jetty nearby," he said.
The Indian retailer acquired the Trincomalee facility on a 99-year lease at a cost of $13 million when they began operations in February 2003 by acquiring 100 fuel sheds from state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corp (CPC). |
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