Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Sunday laid the foundation stone for a nearly $4-billion oil refinery in the southern, strategically located port town of Hambantota. The project will come up at the investment zone next to a port that Sri Lanka has leased out to a Chinese state-run firm for 99 years.
The mega project has drawn much interest in the past week, after Sri Lanka’s Board of Investment (BOI) announced that a Singapore-registered firm, along with Oman, was bringing in the investment. Soon after, Reuters quoted an Omani official as saying the country had no role in the project.
Oman’s participation
On Sunday however, Oman’s Oil Minister Mohammed bin Hamad Al Rumhy, who was in Sri Lanka to participate in the ground-breaking ceremony, said he was excited to be part of the refinery project, signalling a possible change in stance.
