Sri Lankan govt permits companies to import fuel as crisis worsens

Colombo: In Sri Lanka, the Cabinet today granted to open fuel imports and retail sales market to companies from oil-exporting nations. This comes after the country ran out of fuel as only 1,100 tonnes of petrol and 7,500 tonnes of diesel are left, which are not sufficient to last for a day. Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said that the companies will be selected upon their ability to import fuel and operate without Forex requirements, reports a Sri Lankan daily. He said, the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation will be the service provider for logistics, stocking and distribution with a service fee levied from those companies.

The government has also sent officials to the major energy producers Russia and Qatar in a bid to secure cheap oil supplies.

Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan Government has suspended sales of fuel for non-essential vehicles as it faces its worst economic crisis. For the next two weeks, only buses, trains and vehicles used for medical services and transporting food will be allowed to fill up with fuel.

Cabinet Spokesman Minister Bandula Gunawardane in a statement said, the Cabinet yesterday decided to issue fuel only for essential services from today until the 10th of July. He also said that the government is planning to request all public and private sector institutions to apply for work from home facilities till the 10th of July because of the ongoing fuel crisis.

Local media reports that schools in urban areas have shut and officials have told the residents to work from home.