Sri Lanka’s largest lubricant player, Chevron Lubricants Lanka PLC, held a grand opening ceremony for its new state of the art blending plant at Lindel Industrial Estate, Sapugaskanda last Thursday, December 4. This grand opening was held in the presence of Colleen Cervantes, the president of Chevron Lubricants. and Mr. Farrukh Saeed, Vice President Lubricants Asia Pacific region who is also the Chairman of Chevron Lubricants Lanka PLC .

The new blending facility, with an investment of two billion rupees (US$15 million), is built on a 4½ acres plot of land and has a floor area of 5,000 square meters. This semi-automated plant has the capacity to produce 45,000 KL per year of finished lubricants in a single shift operation. It is also equipped with a modern laboratory facility and a base oil and finished lubricants storage tank farm. The modern warehouse has 1.4 million litre storage capacity for raw materials and finished products.

“Chevron has generously contributed to national health, road safety, sports and education to empower Sri Lankans through its effective CSR policies. 100% of its Lankan operations are manned by Lankan staff and the Company has also shared its Humar Resources with other countries, giving its staff exposure and earning foreign currency” said Kishu Gomez (MD/CEO of Chevron Lubricants Lanka.

He further said,“With more than 50% of local market share of lubricants, we are the dominant player.

Under the Chevron umbrella, Chevron Sri Lanka engages in blending, manufacturing, importing, distributing, and marketing lubricant oils, greases, brake fluids, and specialty products in Sri Lanka and offers lubricant solutions for industrial, commercial, and consumer applications.

Chevron Sri Lanka dominates the local market with approximately 57 percent of Sri Lanka's lubricant market, which is reportedly estimated at 60 million litres a year. Chevron Lubricants Lanka also exports its products to Maldives and Bangladesh..

Sri Lanka's petroleum industry became a state monopoly in the 1960s as property rights were violated by the state and existing petroleum firms were expropriated. Lubricants became a private monopoly in the mid 1990s after Ceylon Petroleum Corporation privatized its Lubricants to Caltex, which is now part of Chevron.

In 1994, through the Government of Sri Lanka’s privatisation initiative, Caltex International acquired 51% equity in Lanka Lubricants and GOSL granted another 10% of shares to the employees. In 1996, GOSL sold its 39% equity holding to the public through the Colombo Stock Exchange.