I remember a litre of diesel being about Rs. 16 during my school years. I took the bus to school or sometimes, a very old Toyota van. When the bus or van stopped at the filling station, I would watch with curiosity how the filling station attendant pumped fuel. 

The price was handwritten on the fuel dispenser in paint and the dispenser itself was visually similar to the emoji which appears when we type ‘gas’ on our mobile phones. The price and the number of litres indicated on the fuel dispenser was a manual system, where numbers moved up like an old cricket scoreboard. Restrooms at a filling station were rare. All fuel stations were operated mainly by the State-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC).

Today, the atmosphere at a filling station is quite different, with more sophisticated infrastructure such as digital fuel dispensers and digital payments methods. More payment options are available and some credit card companies offer discounts for fuel. Many fuel stations have restrooms and some even have mini super markets. 

Currently, the market has two players – the CPC and the Lanka IOC. A new discussion is taking place about opening our market to three additional players. If memory serves right, when Lanka IOC entered the Sri Lankan market, the Chinese Government-owned Sinopec was offered access to enter the market as well. 

However, at that moment in time, it did not want entry. Even though a two-player market is not perfect, it still brought a significant upgrade to the service and quality of filling stations. In this context, how should we view the entrance of more players into the fuel market?

First, a higher number of players is better than a lower number of players, because it increases the freedom of choice for people. It also downsizes risk. If one company fails, we have the other companies supplying fuel. During the economic crisis, the Indian-owned Lanka IOC provided services when our State-run CPC failed. As such, more players and a level playing field is a prerequisite to better and constant services.

Selection of players and importance of pricing ability

More players are healthier for a market system in an ideal situation, but the regulatory barriers have to be minimal. In an industry where capital expenditure is very high and a licensing process is involved, at the very least, the selection process has to be undertaken through a transparent and competitive bidding process. 

Importantly, the new players should have price flexibility. In the last agreement with the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), one condition was that IOC needs Government approval for any price revisions. 

Think of an instance where the IOC experimented with a more environmentally-friendly fuel variant with a higher price – this cannot be sold in the Sri Lankan market until permission has been obtained from the Government. When private players are given the freedom to decide the price, they can come up with better solutions. 

For instance, in certain countries there is a service where fuel can be delivered to homes, similar to food delivery. This is a valuable service for boat and generator users. When a supplier delivers fuel with safety measures, it cannot be sold at the usual price. In an environment with price controls, such augmented services will not emerge. 

Govt. should not engage in petroleum business 

While there will be three more players entering the market, this is a solution slightly removed from the best one. The new players have been provided the licence to import fuel and store and distribute fuel at fuel stations. However, petroleum product transmission, which is a high capital intensive service, is mainly owned by the Government. 

Petroleum transmission services require pipes and other capital-heavy infrastructure to load, unload, and transfer fuel from the ship to the refinery or respective storage. Ideally, all players should invest in a petroleum transmission company such as the Ceylon Petroleum Storage Terminals, because it is a shared service which requires high capital investment in foreign exchange for infrastructure development. 

Keeping such an important intermediary service in one Government institute is a big risk for the entire supply chain. One interruption in the intermediary service can control the outcome of the entire fuel market. When the Government engages in business, it will not be a level playing field and no investor would like to risk their money.

Burden of CPC on the Treasury 

Another reason why the fuel market and the CPC require reforms is the colossal losses incurred just by maintaining its duopoly status. For the first eight months of 2023, the losses were more than Rs. 600 billion (Figure 1). For comparison, this figure is six times the expected revenue from PAYE (Pay As You Earn) tax from all workers, including petroleum workers. 

The main reason for the significant loss is the deprecation in the currency, but even with that consideration, since 2015, only a marginal profit has been made in three years. CPC’s debt to the banking sector is close to Rs. 700 billion and of that, about Rs. 561 billion is guaranteed by the Treasury (Figure 2). The CPC’s negative equity of Rs. 334 billion indicates the magnitude of losses that have accumulated over time.

Figure 1 

Source: CPC Annual Reports and Ministry of Finance Annual Reports

Figure 2 

Source: Annual Reports of the Ministry of Finance and the CBSL

Geopolitics at play

We need to understand the reasons why big companies are attempting to enter the Sri Lankan market. It is not with the main objective of simply supplying fuel to the 22 million market. Most likely, it is to access the shipping routes and the Bay of Bengal market spanning from India to Bangladesh. 

On the other hand, another Expression of Interest has been called for an oil refinery in Hambantota as per news reports. Accordingly, the Chinese company will have an added advantage, with both access to the Hambantota Port and now the ability to import, store, and distribute fuel. 

While geopolitics will come into play,  the fundamentals remain the same. The Government should not engage in business and more players should be allowed to enter the market. Processes have to be competitive and transparent. The outcome of this will be that consumers will win and petroleum sector workers will have higher wages.