Bids have been called for a Rs 16.3 billion pipeline between Kolonnawa and the Port of Colombo, intended to cut the time taken to unload an oil tanker from 96 hours to 48.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake disclosed the tender in Thursday’s Budget speech, Hiru News reported. The investment is given as Rs 16,332 million, and the President said the work is expected to be completed within 18 months.
Halving discharge time matters commercially as well as operationally: tankers waiting at berth accrue demurrage, and faster turnaround frees berth capacity at the port.
Jet fuel terminal already under way
The President said work has already begun on a separate Rs 22,340 million investment at the Muthurajawela petroleum terminal, comprising:
- a tank complex with 92,000 cubic metres of capacity for Jet A1 aviation fuel
- a pipeline carrying aircraft fuel from Muthurajawela to Bandaranaike International Airport, Katunayake
That project is tied to the proposal to develop Bandaranaike International Airport as a service centre for the international aviation sector, which the President has set out alongside the wider airports overhaul in the same Budget.
Sourcing note
This report rests on a single verified newsroom. No other verified outlet had filed on the pipeline proposals at the time of writing, and the Daily Mirror’s sector-by-sector Budget breakdown carries no petroleum infrastructure line.
Not reported
The filing does not name the tendering agency or the expected operator, say when bids close, state the pipeline’s length, capacity or diameter, or give a completion date for the Muthurajawela terminal. It also does not say whether the 96-hour figure is a current average or a worst case.
