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CPC to reduce fuel supply to certain filling stations

28 Feb 2022

 
  • Fuel stations with higher demand to be prioritised in distribution
  • Measure taken to prevent fuel shortage
  • CPC sources claim fuel stocks sufficient for 10 days 
  BY Pamodi Waravita With the aim of preventing a fuel shortage, the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) will distribute fuel to fuel filling stations around Sri Lanka according to the demand experienced by those filling stations, which means that certain filling stations will receive more fuel than usual while certain fuel stations will receive less, The Morning learnt. Well-placed sources at the CPC told The Morning yesterday (27) that panic buying by consumers and hoarding of fuel stocks by fuel filling stations has necessitated this new distribution policy. The sources also noted that the CPC filling stations have seen a significant increase in demand following the hiking of fuel prices by its main competitor, the Lanka Indian Oil Company (LIOC), over the weekend. Accordingly, the CPC will distribute fuel to filling stations based on past buying habits of consumers at those filling stations. The CPC expects this system to ensure that filling stations are unable to hoard fuel stocks in anticipation of a shortage. However, it is unclear how this will tackle the issue of panic buying by consumers, which was widely seen in long queues at filling stations, particularly in the Western Province. Furthermore, the CPC sources claimed that the CPC has enough diesel and petrol stocks to last approximately another 10 days. “The last diesel shipment came to Colombo on Sunday (27). The next one is expected today (28). We have enough stocks of both petrol and diesel to last another 10 days,” CPC sources told The Morning yesterday. Meanwhile, CPC is due to open a letter of credit (LC) today (28) to facilitate a 30,000 metric tonnes (MT) shipment of fuel oil which is expected to arrive at the Colombo Port on Thursday (3 March).  Last week, Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila admitted in Parliament that the ongoing dollar crisis has led to a challenging situation with regard to fuel imports. The CPC, through the Energy Ministry, has been requesting a fuel price hike from the Government. Its challenges have been aggravated since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, following which crude oil prices in the global market rose to an all-time high since 2014. However, at the special cabinet meeting on Tuesday (22) to discuss the power and energy crises, it was decided to not revise fuel prices and for the Government to settle a payment of Rs. 80 billion to the CPC for the continuous supply of fuel. The LIOC has increased its fuel prices twice this month – for diesel by Rs. 15 per litre and for petrol by Rs. 20 per litre.  


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