Sri Lanka is expecting a petrol shipment on the 23rd of June while a diesel consignment is scheduled to arrive on the 24th of June.
Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera said letters of credit amounting to USD 90 million have been opened for the petrol and diesel shipments.
The Minister said at present, the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation has 40,000MT of diesel, 4,000MT of 92-Octane petrol and 8,300MT of 95-Octane petrol.
Speaking during a media briefing in Colombo today, Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said they have selected 11 new suppliers to provide fuel for the country.
Meanwhile, the general public has been requested not to be in fuel queues until the 23rd of June owing to the limited availability of petrol and diesel stocks.
Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said since the next petrol shipment is due only on Thursday the public should avoid being in fuel queues on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Minister Wijesekera said following the arrival of the next shipment, they will have diesel required for the next 10 days.
He said therefore they will be able to release more than adequate diesel stocks to the market which will result in shorter queues.
The Minister said they have also identified filling stations in urban areas that have not received stocks in recent days and such filling stations will be provided with petrol stocks.
Minister Kanchana Wijesekera added that they have made a special request from the Lanka Indian Oil Company to release additional stocks of petrol to the market daily.
He said LIOC is able to release additional petrol stocks by utilizing nearly 10,000MT of petrol currently held at the Trincomalee Terminal.
Minister Wijesekera noted that at present, the company releases around 300MT of petrol to IOC filling stations but a request has been made to release around 1,000MT petrol stock daily in the next few days.
Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera said they are hoping to manage the petrol stocks with the support of Lanka IOC in the next few days.
The Minister also pleaded with the public to support them in managing the limited fuel stocks.
He said the public should limit unnecessary travel and also allow those engaged in essential services to obtain fuel without any hindrance.
