Sri Lanka purchases Russian oil to help alleviate shortages amid economic crisis

Sri Lanka, which is in the midst of the worst economic crisis since its independence, has received Russian oil on Saturday to restore operations at the country's lone refinery, as the energy minister of the country Kanchana Wijesekera said. The state-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) refinery was closed in March as a result of Sri Lanka's foreign exchange crisis, which prevented the government from financing crude imports. The island country is facing fuel and other essential goods shortages making life difficult for its citizens.

Sri Lankan Energy Minister Wijesekera said that they have been waiting for Russian crude supply for almost a month off the coast of Colombo, according to media reports. Despite US-led sanctions on Russian banking and diplomatic condemnation over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Colombo is in talks with Moscow to arrange a direct supply of petroleum, coal, diesel, and petrol. Wijesekera told reporters in Colombo that he has made an official request to the Russian envoy for direct Russian oil shipments and that they need additional refined petroleum goods as well as crude.

After being purchased on credit from Dubai-based intermediary Coral Energy, approximately 90,000 tons of Siberian light crude will be shipped to Sri Lanka's refinery. Wijesekera said the Siberian quality wasn't an ideal match for the refinery, which is designed to process Iranian light crude, but no other supplier was ready to give credit. He also said that before the stock of Siberian light runs out, Sri Lanka will call for new supply tenders in two weeks.

EU's new sanction against Russia could include an oil embargo

This comes just days before European Union officials meet in Brussels on Monday to discuss a new wave of sanctions against Russia related to the Ukraine war, which could include an oil embargo. Russian oil is already subject to a US embargo, and its barrels have been trading at a large discount to international benchmarks since the crisis began. Sri Lanka's decision to buy oil from Russia could result in criticism from the US and European countries.

Sri Lankan citizens also facing severe shortages of food and pharmaceuticals

Sri Lankan citizens also facing severe shortages of food and pharmaceuticals, as well as record inflation and daily blackouts. Earlier this month, anti-government protests devolved into riots, killing nine people and injuring dozens more. 

Image: AP