Colombo, Nov 9 (newsin.asia) – An oil tanker carrying 40,000 Metric Tonnes of petrol from the UAE arrived in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo on Thursday as the island country faced a severe petrol shortage putting its transport sector into a crisis.
The state owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) said the oil tanker, ‘Neverska Lady’ arrived in Colombo in the early hours of Thursday and was docked at the Muthurajawela Bouy. Distribution of petrol was expected to begin by Thursday afternoon.
Sri Lanka made an urgent appeal for petrol after grappling a severe petrol shortage from Saturday.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe informed Parliament on Tuesday that in addition to the oil tanker from UAE, an Indian Oil Tanker was also expected to arrive in the island country on Thursday, carrying a further 21,000 kilolitres of petrol.
The Indian High Commission in Colombo said that India had promised to provide further fuel to Sri Lanka if needed following a teleconference held between President Maithripala Sirisena and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday.
Long queues of vehicles have been lining outside petrol stations across the island since Friday night as news of a petrol shortage spread with people rushing to fill their vehicles.
Petroleum Minister Arjuna Ranatunga apologized to the nation on Monday evening for the inconvenience caused due to the petrol crisis and stated that the CPC had sufficient stocks of petrol for the next few days.
He urged people not to panic and be misled and overbuy petrol.
Angry consumers have taken to social media since Saturday, showing videos of the lengthy queues outside fuel stations and the panic caused among the public. Many said they had been unable to travel to work in their vehicles due to the shortage of petrol.
Taxi services were also slow with many refusing to travel long distances.
