Sri Lanka has barely enough fuel for day

Sri Lanka has practically run out of fuel and has supplies for just one day, Britain’s Daily Mirror reported on Monday, citing sources at state-owned energy company Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC).

According to the report, the country has only 1.1 thousand tons of gasoline and 7.5 thousand tons of diesel in stock.

“Last week, no fuel ships went to Sri Lanka because Colombo failed to make the necessary payments for the cargo.‘ the sources told the publication. The country has also been blacklisted by foreign companies because it recently defaulted on its debt and is now required to provide international bank guarantees for new orders, the sources added.

Sri Lanka’s Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said on Sunday that the government is sending two ministers to Russia this week to negotiate further oil supplies after last month of buying crude oil at a discount Moscow offered earlier this year to buy new ones in the face of Western sanctions to attract buyers.

“Two ministers are going to Russia and I will be going to Qatar tomorrow to see if we can agree on preferential terms‘ Wijesekera told reporters, as quoted by Al Jazeera. In May, Sri Lanka bought a 90,000-ton shipment of Russian crude to restart its oil refinery.

Sri Lanka is experiencing its worst economic crisis since independence more than 70 years ago. It was originally caused by a drop in tourism amid the Covid-19 pandemic, leading to a shortage of foreign exchange. As a result, it doesn’t have the money to pay for imports while struggling with fuel and food crises. Since the beginning of the year, diesel prices in the country have almost quadrupled and gasoline prices have almost tripled. The situation deteriorated in mid-April when Sri Lanka defaulted on its foreign debt of £51bn.

The lack of fuel supplies could lead to a complete closure of the country’s public transport system and power outages this week. Colombo on Sunday extended a two-week shutdown of non-essential government facilities until further notice to conserve fuel. Wijesekera apologized for the situation and said residents will likely not be able to get fuel for personal use in the coming days as authorities will ration the remaining barrels between public transport, power generation, and medical service providers.