Trinco Oil Tank Farm agreement in a month - Gammanpila

In a month’s time, Sri Lanka will ink the long-dragging deal with India to jointly develop the Trincomalee oil tank farms, Sri Lanka's Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila had told India's The Hindu.

The Minister had noted that the relevant documentation will be submitted at the next Cabinet meeting.

The Minister said he has instructed the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) to form a subsidiary company, Trinco Petroleum Terminal Ltd., for the purpose.

The move follows President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s nod to set up the special purpose vehicle ahead of the next Cabinet meeting, reported The Hindu.

“We don’t have a Cabinet meeting this week because of the holidays. We will get the decision ratified in the next one,” Mr. Gammanpila said.

If the deal is finalized and signed next month, it will not only mark the culmination of India’s 16-month-long negotiation with the ruling Rajapaksa administration but will also give shape to a proposal envisaged 35 years ago, in the Indo-Lanka Accord.

The facility, interestingly located in ‘China Bay’, has 99 storage tanks with a capacity of 12,000 kilolitres each, spread across the Upper Tank Farm and the Lower Tank Farm, where LIOC currently runs 15 tanks. The new agreement being negotiated pertains to the remaining tanks.