Next petrol shipment to arrive in Sri Lanka on July 22: official

COLOMBO, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The next petrol shipment will arrive in Sri Lanka on July 22 as the country faces a severe shortage of fuel, an official said here on Wednesday.

Sagala Ratnayake, the prime minister's chief of staff and a committee member appointed to look into the fuel crisis, told journalists that although Sri Lanka's Ceylon Petroleum Corporation had funds, it was unable to buy fuel due to high global demands.

Ratnayake said that Sri Lanka currently had 11,000 metric tons of diesel, 5,000 metric tons of petrol, 30,000 metric tons of furnace oil, and 800 metric tons of jet fuel in its storage.

He further said that 38,000 metric tons of diesel will arrive between July 11 and July 15.

Ratnayake said the existing stocks of diesel will only be available for essential services until the new shipment reaches the country next month.

Sri Lanka's Power and Energy Ministry already began rationing fuel to the public by issuing token numbers from this week while schools in Colombo and the outskirts remain closed due to the lack of transport.

Sri Lanka has been facing crippling fuel shortages, and prices of fuel have increased four times this year.