Crude oil imported from company that sold substandard fuel

Petroleum Minister Susil Premajayantha it is learnt has approved the purchase of 80,000 metric tons of Oman Light crude oil as an emergency purchase from Singapore’s Enoc Company that provided substandard petrol last year.

The stock of Oman Light has been purchased after the Sapugaskanda Refinery was shut down due to the lack of crude oil. CPC sources say that the oil shipment is to arrive in the country on the 8th.

The Vitol Company that provided substandard petrol and diesel had been blacklisted, but the Enoc Company that also supplied substandard fuel last July has not been substandard.

The committee that was appointed to inquire into the substandard fuel issue had recommended to the Ministry that fuel should be imported from a company that could supply the required fuel at required quantities at proper standards on the required date. The committee had shown that Ministry was otherwise not in a position to seek compensation from the company.

However, a CPC trade union leader said that compensation payment shad not been sought from the Enoc Company and that the CPC could not import fuel from a company that supplied substandard fuel as an emergency purchase when there are other companies that could supply the fuel.