COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Chinese petroleum giant Sinopec signed an agreement with Sri Lanka on Monday to enter the South Asian island country’s retail fuel market as it struggles to resolve a worsening energy crisis amid an unprecedented economic upheaval.
The contract agreement would enable Sinopec 386 to import, store, distribute and sell petroleum products in Sri Lanka, which has had a fuel shortage for more than a year. The agreement signed Monday in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, was made to “ensure uninterrupted fuel suppliers to consumers,” the president’s office said in a news release.
When the economic crisis hit Sri Lanka last year, the government couldn’t find foreign currency to import fuel, triggering a severe shortage that lasted for more than two months and forcing people to endure long lines at fuel stations. Sri Lankans are still allotted limited amounts of fuel that is distributed according to a QR code system.
Sri Lanka borrowed heavily from China over the past decade for infrastructure projects including a seaport, airport and a city being built on reclaimed land. The projects failed to earn enough revenue to pay for the loans, a factor in Sri Lanka’s economic woes. In 2017, Sri Lanka leased the seaport in Hambantota to China because it could not pay back the loan.