The 585-acre (237 ha) refinery will be built and owned by Singapore's Silver Park International (Private) Limited (70%) and Oman's Ministry of Oil and Gas (30%).

687 billion) (2019), the refinery development is the single largest foreign direct investment in Sri Lanka's history.

Construction of the first phase will commence on 24 March 2019 at a groundbreaking ceremony in the Mirijjawila Export Processing Zone, with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe attending as chief guest,[3] with the project slated for completion in 44 months.

However, CEYPETCO and Lanka IOC could bid for refined petroleum products at competitive prices to supply to local consumers.

The port, initially state-owned, has been leased to China in 2017 for 99 years, after Sri Lanka was unable to service a loan from Beijing.