Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara says fuel supply had become extremely challenging since the release of sufficient foreign exchange by the Central Bank had been limited .
He said the credit lines of US $ 700 million had been exhausted , and discussions were underway to secure another US$ 550 million from India .
Also , the Minister alternate arrangements had been worked out to secure fresh supplies of fuel in the future .
Minister Wijesekara also said some buses operate on kerosene instead of diesel and therefore the release of kerosene will also be rationalized.
The fuel distribution in the country will not be streamlined until the fuel price increase comes into effect by June 24, Samagi United Trade Union Force (SUTUF) convener and media spokesman Ananda Palitha said.
He noted that there is a possibility of increasing the price of fuel vby more than Rs. 60.
According to the power and energy ministry secretary, the fuel price increase should take effect on the 24th of each month.The most recent fuel price increase was on May 24.
Plans have been made to increase the price of a litre of 92 Octane petrol by Rs.74,95 Octane petrol by Rs.78, a litre of diesel by Rs.56, a litre of super diesel by Rs.65 and a litre of kerosene by Rs.210, Palitha said.
Therefore, the responsible authorities are not in a position to distribute fuel until the price increase comes into effect on June 24.
“As a result, 5,500 MT of petrol and 11,000 MT of diesel are currently in hand at Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) storage facilities. The last shipment of diesel (40,000MT) arrived in the country yesterday under the Indian Credit Line facility,” he said.
The country needs 6,000 MT of diesel and 5,000 MT of petrol daily for the smooth running of the economy, he said.
With the receipt of the last diesel shipment, there are no more petrol or diesel freight scheduled to arrive. Moreover, Palitha said that a total of 520,000MT (13 shipments) of diesel and petrol have been received.
With the fuel distribution has been curtailed, we can see the longest fuel queues in history, Palitha added.
