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Bankrupt Sri Lanka Takes Russia Oil as Fuel Crisis Persists

  • Crude set to be used at refinery that’s been shut since March
  • Nation needs cheap supply desperately as local crisis deepens
Ceylon Petroleum Corp.’s oil refinery in Sapugaskanda, Sri Lanka.

Ceylon Petroleum Corp.’s oil refinery in Sapugaskanda, Sri Lanka.

Photographer: Ishara S.. Kodikara/AFP/Getty Images

Updated on

Sri Lanka is receiving Russian crude oil that it will use to make fuel as the bankrupt nation faces crippling shortages of everything from gasoline to diesel. 

The Russian grade of Siberian Light will be processed at Ceylon Petroleum Corp.’s refinery in Sapugaskanda, Chairman Sumith Wijesinghe said in a phone interview. The country’s sole refinery is set to receive crude on May 28, enabling its restart for the first time in over two months, according to its power and energy minister in an earlier tweet.