Trade union representatives claim that although the country has the capacity to store nearly three months’ worth of fuel, current diesel stocks are sufficient for only about 18 days, while petrol stocks will last for around one and a half months, raising concerns about the country’s energy security.
They said Sri Lanka consumes about 3,500 metric tons of diesel per day, and even after receiving a shipment of 20,000 metric tons of diesel, the available stock will last less than three weeks.
A shipment belonging to Lanka IOC, carrying 20,000 metric tons of diesel and 17,000 metric tons of petrol, arrived last night and unloading began this morning. With the new stock, petrol supplies are expected to remain stable, while there is no shortage of Octane 95, super diesel, or kerosene as those remain from earlier reserves.
However, Ananda Palitha, Convener of the Samagi Joint Trade Union Alliance, said the real problem lies in the failure to maintain reserve storage facilities.
He said international energy security standards require a country to maintain at least three months of fuel reserves, and Sri Lanka has storage capacity of nearly 400,000 metric tons, but a large portion of the tanks cannot be used because they have not been repaired.
According to him, tanks with a capacity of about 160,000 metric tons remain out of service, while crude oil storage facilities with capacities of 80,000 and 90,000 metric tons are not being fully utilised. He said only about half of the available reserve storage is currently filled.
Palitha also alleged that production at the Sapugaskanda Refinery has dropped, with daily diesel refining reduced to around 1,400 metric tons from the earlier 1,800 metric tons, limiting the country’s ability to maintain adequate reserves.
He further claimed that fuel stocks have been diverted for electricity generation instead of being kept as reserves, alleging that large quantities of diesel were supplied to the Lakvijaya Power Plant to prevent power cuts, while the Sobadhanavi Power Plant alone has requested about 600 metric tons of diesel per day.
He warned that more than 120,000 metric tons of diesel had been used for power generation, saying that fuel meant for emergency reserves is being consumed to keep the electricity supply running, leaving the country vulnerable to another fuel crisis despite having sufficient storage capacity.
