The Cabinet has approved a proposal to initiate a new feasibility study to determine the scope, technical, operational and financial feasibility of a project to enhance the existing capacity at Sapugaskanda Oil Refinery, the government said. The proposal which was submitted by Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila stated the current capacity of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation’s (CPC) refinery at Sapugaskanda is only 40,000. “The refinery meets only 25 per cent of the local demand for refined petroleum products. The remaining 75 per cent has to be imported, making a greater impact on foreign exchange. A feasibility study was conducted in 2010 for the renovation and expansion of the refinery to increase its capacity up to 100,000 barrels. Subsequent technological changes in the field have made it impossible to proceed on the results of the feasibility study,” it said. Accordingly, the cabinet approved the proposal by Minister Gammanpila to initiate a new feasibility study to determine the scope, technical, operational and financial feasibility of the project which is to be implemented with the focus on several alternative proposals to enhance the existing capacity.