* Refinery to get its next crude shipment on Nov 8-9 from
Dubai
* Ceypetco struggles to buy Iranian oil due to western
sanctions
* Refinery configured to run on Iranian crude
(Adds details)
SINGAPORE/COLOMBO, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Ceylon Petroleum Corp
(Ceypetco) will shut Sri Lanka's sole 50,000 barrels-per-day oil
(bpd) refinery for two weeks on Friday after exhausting its
supply of mainly Iranian crude oil, a company official said.
The company has enough crude to last until Friday and will
receive its next crude oil shipment from Dubai on Nov. 8 or Nov.
9 when the refinery will restart, Ceypetco general manager
Susantha Silva told Reuters.
The refinery will also undergo maintenance during the
shutdown, he added.
The refinery is configured to run on Iranian crude and has
been scrambling to fill a shortfall after it was unable to bring
in Iranian crude because of Western sanctions.
"This does not mean we are going to close down the refinery
permanently. This will be a temporary closure," said Silva.
"We are getting one crude parcel from Dubai on Nov. 8 or 9
and one from Saudi Arabia on Nov. 13. Another one scheduled
(from Abu Dhabi) in December. So we have lined up crude for
refining."
Exports from Iran, which is grappling with tough Western
sanctions targeting its energy and petrochemical sectors, have
fallen sharply as consumers struggle both to pay for the oil and
to secure insurance cover for tankers to ship the crude.
Ceypetco has been having problems running the refinery at
full capacity as alternative crudes like Arabian light are not
able to give the refinery the proper yield, Silva said earlier.
Sri Lanka, which is dependent on Iranian crude oil, has
reduced its Iranian crude imports by 20 percent this year, but
disagrees with Western sanctions that are punishing countries
that depend on its oil, Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris said
earlier this week.
The country is now in talks with Iran to find suitable
payment method for its crude, as banks dealing with Iran have
also been targeted by western sanctions. Iran has not offered
any discounts on its crude, Peiris said.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in June the U.S.
would exempt Sri Lanka, among other nations, from financial
sanctions because they have significantly cut purchases of
Iranian oil.
Ceypetco's Sapugaskanda refinery, on the outskirts of the
capital, Colombo, was last shut early in September after damage
to a floating pipeline at the Colombo port.
The sanctions have so far defeated three attempts by Sri
Lanka to obtain Iranian crude as the company struggles with
getting shipping insurance and payment on the Iranian oil, Silva
has said.
(Reporting by Shihar Aneez and Jessica Jaganathan; Editing by
Nick Macfie)