Limited fuel supply from CPC creates fuel scarcity: CPC union

There is a shortage of fuel at Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) filling stations due to the limited supply of fuel, CPC Jathika Sevaka Sangamaya wing (JSS) Secretary Ananda Palitha said.

He told the Daily Mirror that supply to fuel stations was halved around the country. There are 1,350 CPC affiliated filling stations established around the country within a 3km distance of each filling station.

"The Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka yesterday handed over to Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila a shipment of 40,000 MT of fuel from the Indian Oil Company (IOC)," he said.

However, the Minister also claimed that the country has sufficient fuel in hand, but it would not be sufficient for the transportation sector if the released for power generation.

"The fuel requirement of the country is 6,000 MT and the received 40,000 MT of fuel is sufficient only for eight days. If the next fuel shipment does not arrive within the next eight days, there would be a fuel scarcity in the country. However, the next shipment should arrive within the next three days to ensure smooth distribution of fuel in the country without any short supply, "he said.

Therefore, fuel distribution has been limited in the country. Certain filling stations have placed their orders and are waiting for two to three weeks to get their supply.

However, the Lanka IOC provides continual fuel supply for their 160 filling stations around the country, which leads CPC customers to get fuel from them.

The LIOC has sufficient fuel to run smoothly with their distribution. But the CPC has no proper plan for importing fuel. As a result, the CPC does not have enough fuel to meet the filing stations' needs.

Palitha also said that there is a possibility of contaminated fuel imported into the country with these as hoc procurement of fuel. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)