Sri Lanka lacks storage facilities for excess fuel shipments for April

By Ajith Siriwardana

While long queues are still witnessed in most parts of the country, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) sources yesterday said that while all fuel shipments ordered for April have been confirmed, Sri Lanka is facing a severe shortage of storage facilities to store the fuel and may not be able to place any further orders.  

CPC sources said that while Sri Lanka did not face any issues in purchasing fuel shipments, the issue was that the country did not have the sufficient storage facility to store larger stocks of fuel and did not have the facility to unload more than it is capable of.  

As of March 2026, Sri Lanka stores its fuel supplies primarily at the Kolonnawa and Muthurajawela terminals, along with colonial-era oil tanks in Trincomalee. In the Kolonnawa and Muthurajawela fuel storage facilities, these combined sites provide approximately 150,000 MT of storage, serving as the main hubs for petrol and diesel, though authorities note that capacity is a major operational constraint.  

Meanwhile, the CPC Managing Director Mayura Neththikumara told the media that five more fuel shipments which had been ordered for April were confirmed on Thursday(18) and that Sri Lanka has sufficient fuel stocks until May end now.  

He said the CPC earlier confirmed that fuel stocks will last until April end as there was a doubt of some orders being cancelled due to the Middle East tensions and added that with five more shipments being confirmed, the fuel stocks will be sufficient until May.

“The CPC earlier confirmed fuel stocks until April end based on fuel stocks which were confirmed until March end. Due to the doubt of orders being cancelled, we ordered more buffer stocks. All the fuel shipments ordered for April have now been confirmed. So, the fuel stocks will now last until May end,” he said.  

Responding to a question whether Sri Lanka had entered into agreements with new suppliers, Neththikumara said Sri Lanka had been negotiating with some countries such as China, Russia and India to procure fuel shipments and added that with all the shipments being confirmed for April, there is no immediate need for such a 

procurement for April.