News

Panic buying of petrol, diesel over fears of oil shortages

Published

4 years ago

2021/08/22

Gas almost totally unavailable

Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila’s appeal to motorists this week to use fuel sparingly as the government faced a foreign exchange shortage to import crude oil has sparked panic buying.

Long queues were seen at filling stations in Colombo and elsewhere on Friday after the Ministry said it had diesel stocks for 11 days and petrol for 10 days.

Soon after hearing the country’s fuel stock position announced on radio on Thursday night, motorists rushed to fill up but found filling stations had closed earlier than usual because of the daily night curfew, starting at 10 pm.

By Friday morning, queues were forming outside pumping stations in Colombo and elsewhere.

“The reality is that we are in a foreign currency crisis,” Minister Gammanpila said on Twitter on Tuesday “Please use fuel economically to save foreign currency for much needed medicine & vaccines.”

Earlier too, the outspoken minister had made it clear that the government was unable to hold large buffer stocks of fuel as the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation was unable to source the dollars needed to finance it.

As motorists rushed to fill up, minister Gammanpila tried to assure that the CPC had sufficient stocks.

“NO FUEL SHORTAGE,” the minister said in capital letters on Twitter and suggested that he would be the first to admit if there was one.

“I have repeatedly stated that if there was a fuel shortage, I would have told the nation before anybody else. I have always been truthful to the people and informed in advance about the price hike. I was the first to announce about the foreign currency crisis.”

By noon, many sheds ran out of Octane 92 petrol and ordinary diesel. At the Alexandra Place shed in Colombo, there was no Super diesel and Octane 92 petrol by noon andhundreds of motorcyclists and diesel SUVs were turned away.

President’s Secretary P. B. Jayasundara had announced earlier this month that the country should reduce petroleum consumption and move towards renewable energy to avoid fuel rationing by the end of this year.

Meanwhile, long queues for LP gas were not seen on Friday as dealers completely ran out of filled cylinders following a run on supplies after Laugfs Gas halted their operations saying they could not sell at the government regulated rates.

The gas shortage had already led to long queues to buy kerosene oil that is used as an alternative cooking fuel and many homes have kerosene stoves before gas.

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News

SAARC journalists meet in New Delhi

Published

13 hours ago

2026/02/6

Priyan

President of SJF Sri Lanka Chapter Rahul Samantha Hettiarachchi hands over a memento to Dr Alok Kumar Mishra Joint Secretary of the Association of Indian Universities

Members of the South Asian Journalists Forum have gathered at the University of New Delhi for a two day conference themed ‘Peace and Co-operation’.

Journalists from Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and India are attending the conference hosted by the University of Delhi in collaboration with the India Chapter of SJF, and will deliberate on how the media can act as a catalyst for regional stability and mutual coexsistence.

A tree plantation campaign was also held at the Ghandi Bhawan premises of the University to mark the event and symbolize growing regional ties.

The Sri Lanka delegation is led by President of SJF’s Sri Lanka Chapter Rahul Samantha Hettiarachchi.

News

Governor of Gujarat met with Sri Lanka PM to discuss exposition of Devnimori Relics

Published

15 hours ago

2026/02/6

Priyan

The Governor of the of Gujarat, Acharya Devvrat, along with the Deputy Chief Minister of Gujarat, Harsh Sanghvi, met with Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya on Thursdy [February 05] at the Parliamentary Complex to discuss the arrangements related to the exposition of the Devnimori Sacred Relics of Lord Buddha, which have been brought to Sri Lanka under the patronage of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Government of India.

These sacred relics of Lord Buddha were discovered during archaeological excavations conducted in the 1960s at the historic Devnimori site in Gujarat, the home state of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Until now, these relics had never been taken outside India. As a result of discussions held between President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his recent visit to Sri Lanka, the people of Sri Lanka have been granted this rare opportunity to venerate these sacred relics.

The exposition of the relics is being held for a period of seven days, from February 05 to February 11, at the Gangaramaya Temple in Hunupitiya, Colombo. Discussions were held between both parties regarding the arrangements related to this event.

The discussion was attended by Samar Nanda, Joint Secretary of the Indian Ministry of Culture; Dr. Satyanjal Pandey, Acting High Commissioner of India in Sri Lanka; Abhijit Halder, Director General of the International Buddhist Confederation; along with several others.

[Prime Minister’s Media Division]

News

INS GHARIAL makes port call in Colombo

Published

21 hours ago

2026/02/6

Priyan

The Indian Naval Ship (INS) GHARIAL made a port call in Colombo for operational turnarounds on 04 Feb 26. The Sri Lanka Navy welcomed the visiting ship in compliance with naval traditions.

Commanded by Commander Gaurav Tewari, INS GHARIAL is a vessel with a length of 124.8 meters.

During this visit, ten (10) Bailey Bridges, brought by ship, through the coordination of the High Commission of India in Sri Lanka, will be handed over to the Disaster Management Center. These bridges will provide temporary transportation links while bridges damaged across the island by adverse weather conditions are repaired.

The crew’s itinerary features scheduled goodwill activities with the Sri Lanka Navy, alongside visits to several tourist attractions across the island.