News

Sri Lanka to send ministers to Russia seeking discounted oil | News


The energy minister said officials would go to Moscow on Monday to buy fuel on concessional terms.

Cash-strapped Sri Lanka has announced it will send ministers to Russia and Qatar to try and secure cheap oil a day after the government said it had run out of fuel.

Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said the two ministers will travel to Russia on Monday to discuss buying more oil after last month bought 90,000 tonnes of Siberian crude.

That shipment was arranged through Coral Energy, a Dubai-based intermediary, but politicians have urged authorities to negotiate directly with President Vladimir Putin’s government.

“The two ministers will go to Russia and I will go to Qatar tomorrow to see if we can arrange the terms of concessions,” Wijesekera told reporters in Colombo on Sunday.

Wijesekera announced on Saturday that Sri Lanka is mostly out of petrol and diesel after some scheduled shipments were delayed indefinitely for “banking” reasons.

The fuel reserve is sufficient to meet demand for less than two days and it is being devoted to essential services, Wijesekera said, apologizing for the situation.

State-run Ceylon Petroleum Corp on Sunday Long walk Diesel prices fell 15% to 460 rupees ($1.27) a liter and gasoline fell 22% to 550 rupees ($1.52).

Since the beginning of the year, diesel prices have nearly quadrupled and gasoline prices have almost tripled.

Wijesekera said there would be an indefinite delay in receiving new oil shipments and urged motorists not to queue until he introduced the tokenization system for a limited number of vehicles. day.

Everyone, have been waiting for kilometers, difficult queuing Wijesekera said external pumps are unlikely to get fuel as the government will focus on releasing the remaining stockpiles for public transport, electricity generation and medical services.

The military, which has been deployed at fuel stations to quell the unrest, will now issue cards to those waiting, sometimes for days, he said, adding that ports and airports Flights will be provided with fuel rations.

Meanwhile, the government has extended for two weeks the closure of state non-essential facilities until further notice to save fuel, maintaining only a skeleton staff to provide services. minimum service.



Source link

news7h

News7h: Update the world's latest breaking news online of the day, breaking news, politics, society today, international mainstream news .Updated news 24/7: Entertainment, Sports...at the World everyday world. Hot news, images, video clips that are updated quickly and reliably

Related Articles

Back to top button