Sri Lanka will stop importing oil from Iran at the end of March, ahead of the US sanctions deadline of June 29, the island’s Sunday Times newspaper said.
Sri Lanka has depended almost entirely on Iran for its crude oil supplies, getting 93 percent from there.
Sri Lanka has started purchasing Saudi Arabian oil, and Iraq is offering to supply “substantial quantities” of fuel, the paper said.
The Times says Sri Lanka’s only refinery at Sapugaskanda is able to process only Iranian crude - though AFP says the refinery, built with Italian technology in 1968, can also handle Saudi light crude.
India has said it will continue to import oil from Iran, joining China in refusing to bow to intensifying US pressure not to do business with the Islamic republic.
