The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) has categorically rejected reports that Sri Lanka paid US$286 per barrel for crude oil, calling the figure false, misleading and damaging to the institution’s reputation.
In a formal clarification issued under the hand of its Chairman, the CPC said all crude oil imports are carried out solely by the corporation for refining at the Sapugaskanda Refinery, and that no cargo imported or contracted by CPC has been purchased or agreed anywhere near the cited figure.
The statement said four crude oil shipments secured after the outbreak of Middle East hostilities were contracted at approximately US$71.99, US$111.62, US$71.81 and US$113.29 per barrel. The corporation described the rates as “highly competitive and advantageous” relative to prevailing global market prices, and said it had secured continuity of refining operations while safeguarding national energy interests.
The first crude oil tanker since the onset of the Middle East conflict is scheduled to arrive in Sri Lanka on April 17, CPC said.
The rebuttal follows a Financial Times interview in which HSBC Chief Executive Georges Elhedery said the highest “door-to-door” price he had seen for a barrel of oil delivered to the island reached US$286 — a figure Elhedery said included sharply higher costs for shipping, insurance, and logistical risk rather than a single wholesale price. The CPC clarification does not directly address whether all-in delivered costs to the island have at any point approached that figure; it restricts itself to the purchase prices of crude cargoes.
Sri Lanka has been navigating acute fuel supply pressure since Hormuz-linked disruptions in recent weeks triggered rationing, emergency shipments from alternative suppliers, and political contestation over energy pricing.
