Lanka IOC optimistic about recovery

Lanka IOC said it hopes to recover losses suffered this year after the Sri Lankan government hiked the price of petrol by LKR12 (US$0.10), diesel fuel by LKR 8 (US$0.06) and kerosene by LKR10 (US$0.08). “We hope to make up for a part of our losses because of the price hike,” Lanka IOC Managing Director K. R. Suresh Kumar said. But diesel fuel remains heavily subsidized and a major drain on the finances of Lanka IOC and Ceylon Petroleum Corporation. Both companies retail petroleum products in Sri Lanka. Lanka IOC had previously raised the price of diesel fuel, which resulted in the loss of a big part of its customer base. Now that the two companies are selling diesel fuel at the same price, Lanka IOC hopes to win back those customers. The wholly-owned subsidiary of Indian Oil Corporation also expects to offset the losses from the sale of diesel fuel with sales of premium products, as well as from bunkering and bitumen operations. Lanka IOC also announced that by mid-November 2011, it plans to launch Euro 3 compliant petrol in Sri Lanka and Euro 4 compliant petrol by February 2012. (November 2, 2011)