Sri Lanka to buy Oman crude, reduce reliance on Iran

Reuters: Sri Lanka has signed a deal to buy crude from Oman, as it looks to reduce its reliance on Iran for oil after pressure from the United States.

COLOMBO, March 23 (Reuters) – Sri Lanka has signed a deal to buy crude from Oman, as it looks to reduce its reliance on Iran for oil after pressure from the United States.

Sri Lanka, despite being a small player in the world crude market, is one of the 12 countries listed that buy Iranian oil and could be subject to U.S. sanctions unless they significantly cut purchases, a U.S. State Department official said on Wednesday.

State-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) said in a statement on Friday that it had inked the deal with Oman Oil Company to buy crude and other petroleum products, though it did not give amounts.

The island nation imports 93 percent of its crude from Iran and the island’s only refinery, the 50,000 barrels-a-day Sapugaskanda facility, is almost entirely reliant on Iranian crude. (Reporting by Shihar Aneez; Editing by Joseph Radford)