Speaking at the outset of his address to Parliament yesterday, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake of Sri Lanka laid out in stark terms what he described as the country’s most pressing structural weakness in the energy sector: inadequate storage capacity. “Our main problem is that we do not have enough capacity to store oil for two or three months,” he told lawmakers, framing the issue not as an immediate collapse, but as a chronic vulnerability that has long constrained national energy security.
The President explained that Sri Lanka’s storage system operates on a tight cycle. When an oil tanker arrives, warehouses must first be emptied to make room for the incoming shipment. Excluding the facilities of the Indian Oil Corporation in Trincomalee, the combined storage capacity of the Kolonnawa and Muthurajawela complexes stands at about 150,000 metric tons. In practice, however, not all of that capacity can be held as buffer stock. At the height of the current tensions, 130,000 metric tons were already in storage, leaving limited maneuvering space.
Despite those constraints, Dissanayake insisted that the government had relied on what he called a “very scientific storage system management,” analyzing daily demand, refinery output, and shipping schedules. According to the figures presented, Sri Lanka currently holds diesel stocks sufficient for 33 days. Petrol reserves, taking into account a total storage capacity of 161,087 metric tons, are sufficient for about 28 days under normal conditions. With an additional 35,000-metric-ton petrol shipment scheduled to arrive on the 7th or 8th of the month, the country’s effective petrol reserve will extend to roughly 40 days.
“We cannot bring ships as needed,” the President said, pushing back against critics who questioned why more tankers had not been secured. Oil must be ordered in line with available storage space, he stressed, meaning procurement and logistics are tightly linked to physical infrastructure. He listed a schedule of confirmed arrivals, including shipments from RM Park, Sinopac, the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation and the IOC, all backed by formal agreements.
The country’s aviation fuel position, he added, is relatively stable. Daily demand stands at about 1,800 metric tons, with 1,080 metric tons produced domestically by the refinery and the remainder imported. Current aviation fuel stocks are sufficient for 49 days, with additional shipments aligned to warehouse availability.
Crude oil supplies for the refinery are secured for 26 days, and a vessel already at sea will add another 18 days’ worth of feedstock. Even if no further ships were to arrive for 44 days, refinery operations could continue, the President said. Still, he cautioned that external factors, including the risk of an escalating war in the region, remain beyond Sri Lanka’s control. “We make plans by assuming the problem. That is the responsibility of a government,” he declared.
Beyond short-term assurances, Dissanayake devoted much of his speech to long-term structural reform. At Kolonnawa, an 86,000-metric-ton storage expansion is underway, including the construction of six new tanks and the replacement of two aging tanks with eight new ones. The project, costing nearly 5 billion rupees in total, is expected to be completed by 2028 and will add storage equivalent to roughly 10 additional days of supply.
In Muthurajawela, plans are in their final tender stage to expand capacity by 40,000 metric tons at a cost of 3.5 billion rupees. A major pipeline project from Muthurajawela to Katunayake is also in development, tied to a broader strategy to transform the country’s main airport into a regional aviation hub. A new aviation fuel storage facility with a capacity of 63,000 metric tons is planned, requiring an investment of 16 billion rupees. That facility alone would provide more than 40 days of aviation fuel storage.
In Trincomalee, where 21 state-controlled tanks remain with a combined capacity of 210,000 metric tons, phased renovations are underway. Two of the first four selected tanks have already been refurbished, with work continuing on the others. However, the President acknowledged that storage alone is insufficient without modern pipeline infrastructure. A 7.37-billion-rupee tender has been called to establish a pipeline system from the sea, enabling efficient unloading and transfer.
The broader infrastructure push extends to filling facilities, ship arrival systems and aging pipelines. The main pipeline from Kolonnawa to the port is 90 years old, Dissanayake noted, and plans are being finalized to replace it with new 14-inch and 18-inch lines at a cost of 12.8 billion rupees. A similarly aged naphtha pipeline to Kelanitissa is being rebuilt for 1.5 billion rupees. In total, approximately 30 billion rupees have been allocated to overhaul the country’s petroleum infrastructure.
The refinery itself, originally built in 1969 for 38,000 metric tons and modestly expanded in 1979, has seen no capacity increase in 47 years. The government now aims to double its capacity from 50,000 to 100,000 metric tons. Twenty bids have been invited, including submissions from 15 companies and extension requests from five more. The plan envisions private sector participation while retaining a government stake.
Turning to liquefied petroleum gas, the President acknowledged a more fragile situation. With a total storage capacity of 8,000 metric tons and daily demand ranging between 1,000 and 1,200 metric tons, Sri Lanka can store only about one week’s supply. Ships therefore arrive almost every other day. Following disruptions in private sector supply, daily demand temporarily rose to 1,800 metric tons.
To address the shortfall, the government is negotiating temporary access to 15,000 metric tons of capacity at a privately owned 30,000-metric-ton export terminal. Dissanayake thanked the company for its willingness to cooperate. He also reimposed emergency regulations to allow authorities to redirect supplies to the domestic market, insisting that the measure was legal and aimed solely at meeting public needs.
An additional 100,000 new cylinders have been ordered from Litro Gas, with a shipment expected to arrive on the 12th. Taken together, the President argued, the steps significantly reduce the likelihood of an oil or gas crisis.
“I believe that this crisis can be faced,” Dissanayake concluded, while cautioning that no government can fully insulate itself from global shocks. For now, he maintained, Sri Lanka has both the reserves and the roadmap to withstand turbulence, signaling a determined bid to transform chronic vulnerability into long-term energy security.
