Minister of Energy Udaya Gammanpila has given a breakdown of the fuel stock currently available in Sri Lanka.
Addressing the Parliament today, he said 92 octane petrol is sufficient for the next 10 days, while 95 octane petrol is available for the next 40 days.
Stating that the Lanka Auto Diesel is available for the next 08 days, the Minister said there is sufficient super diesel also only for the next 08 days.
Minister Gammanpila assured that more stocks of fuel are expected to be received in the coming days.
He further explained that Sri Lanka is currently in possession of 1120 MT of diesel and 1020 MT of furnace oil.
Minister Gammanpila said nearly 6000 MT of diesel has been provided to the Power plants, with 4200 MT of diesel being provided to the Kelanitissa- Sojitz plant.
He added that diesel for the next 06 days has already been provided to the power plants to generate electricity.
Meanwhile, Minister Gammanpila revealed in Parliament yesterday that Sri Lanka is in discussion with several countries to obtain long-term credit facilities for the import of fuel.
The Minister also conceded that there is a huge challenge of allocating US dollars (USD) for the import of fuel at the moment.
Stating that globally, a litre of crude oil is expected to reach $ 115 by mid-March, he said the Government spends $ 500 million on fuel imports per month, which is 50% of Sri Lanka’s export income.
“It is not a fuel or medicine shortage that is present in the country at the moment, but a USD shortage. We are in discussions to acquire long-term credit facilities to import fuel from a number of countries,” he explained.
Commenting on the current fuel and power crisis, Minister Gammanpila said there is a petrol ship docked in Sri Lankan waters at present.
Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa has promised during the last Cabinet meeting that he will do the needful so that the Energy Ministry can start unloading its stocks.
There was a shortage of both diesel and petrol stocks at fuel stations over the past few days, but steps were taken to unload diesel stocks from one ship last morning after the necessary payments were made, he said.
Stating that he can bring fuel ships to Sri Lankan waters, Minister Gammnapila said, however, releasing the stocks is a matter of giving USD.
He further revealed that the Ministry of Energy has so far, not turned away even one ship. (NewsWire)