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Fuel shortage: Kerosene and furnace oil inbound

19 Mar 2022

By Skandha Gunasekara A shipment of 20,000 Metric Tonnes (MTs) of furnace oil and kerosene will be unloaded tomorrow (21), The Sunday Morning learns. The arrival of the fuel consignment was confirmed by Minister of Energy Gamini Lokuge, who said that it would be unloaded on Monday. “On Monday we will unload [the cargo] from the ship which will include 20,000 MT of furnace oil and jet fuel, the latter of which can be used as kerosene. This shipment will be sufficient for around five days,” the Minister said. He said the Government had tried to bring down a shipment of crude oil before, but had been unable to due to price hikes, which resulted in the Sapugaskanda Refinery being shut down. “We tried to order a shipment of crude oil before the Sapugaskanda Refinery was shut down, but we were unsuccessful. We will somehow bring a shipment of furnace oil on Monday,” he added. Lokuge claimed that queues at petrol stations had reduced as sufficient fuel supplies were available and had been distributed. "We have enough stocks of 95, 92, and high octane petrol as well 95 and 92 diesel, and we have distributed them to every shed in the country. Now most of the sheds don’t have big queues, with only about three or four vehicles waiting in line,” he claimed. He went on to say that a lack of kerosene dealers had also affected the shortage and distribution capability: “One problem with the kerosene issue is that there are very few kerosene dealers in the country. We have not distributed as much kerosene as we can to all the dealers.” Meanwhile, Ministry of Energy Secretary K.D.R. Olga said the LP gas shortage had also resulted in an increase in demand for kerosene oil. “Kerosene demand has increased sharply due to the LPG gas shortage in the market. Once the LPG gas supply starts coming in, we expect the demand for kerosene to reduce,” she said.  


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