The CPC Board of Directors is planning to approve the reinstatement of Vitol of Singapore on the basis that the CPC board has powers to allow it to continue business after imposing penalty. That is the usual trade practice. It will be the same practice followed in this case, a CPC official said.  

In the first fiasco of Dirty Fuel Supply by Vitol in 2009, the company delivered a shipment of 20,000 metric tons of substandard Fuel Oil in Aug 2009. This fuel which was imported by CPC for the use of Independent Power Plants caused machinery breakdown resulting in the closure of the power plants which lead to the level of a national crisis.   The Minister tried to defend the supplier for about three weeks and was ultimately forced to blacklist Vitol only in late August 2009. The estimated loss to the country was above USD 10 million.

Vitol and the then Minister were silent for some time. After the deal was clinched between the Minister and Vitol, Supplier was reinstated in December 2011.Over and above the private deal between the then Minister and Vitol, supplier was fined USD 150,000. Once again supplier was in business as usual.

In 2011,Vitol delivered the second batch of dirty fuel, this time it was 20,000 metric tons of diesel, in August 2011. Cars, Lorries, trains and over 1000 busses were brought to a halt. Public uproar and media pressure was unavoidable;   Minister this time was forced to say Vitol was “permanently blacklisted”.
 
Loss to CPC and the public was in millions this time too. However, as usual supplier waited in silence till the next Minister took over the Ministry of Petroleum.

The Minister cleaned up the ‘so called’ permanently blacklisted Vitol, and re-listed as a supplier with CPC after his deal was successfully struck.  However, to impress the public, CPC arranged to publish that Vitol paid a fine for the losses suffered.

In the third fiasco in 2014 Vitol, who had been blacklisted twice and re-listed twice, supplied the third shipment of dirty fuel, this time, Low Sulphur Fuel Oil for the use of Kerawalapitiya Power Plant of Ceylon Electricity Board. Power generation came to a standstill as the Fuel was contaminated with water and used lubricating oil. This shipment was subsequently sold by CPC at a colossal loss.

Supplier’s representative met the then Minister and ex CPC Chairman and discussed the “modalities” of the business. After an agreement was reached to the satisfaction of all parties, the deal was clinched and instructions were given by the then Minister to reinstate Vitol for the third time.