The Ceylon Petroleum Private Tanker Owners Association urged the public on Monday not to engage in panic buying of fuel, saying there was no shortage and no disruption to supplies.

Association Chairman A.M.H. Adhikari told Daily Mirror that queues seen at some filling stations were mainly because certain stations had not placed their fuel orders on time, rather than because of any failure in supply.

Hiru News carried the same statement, reporting Adhikari as saying there was no shortage or supply disruption island-wide and that the public should not buy fuel unnecessarily.

The commission dispute continues

Adhikari also returned to the association’s long-running complaint about transport commission rates, saying the existing formula needs revision because it does not account for transport commission charges on upcountry and southern routes.

“The association has submitted a request regarding this matter, and work is currently underway to revise the formula by incorporating the missing commission components,” he said.

The association agreed terms with the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation last week after threatening disruption, with 15% granted against a 20% demand and a review period still open.

Why diesel is getting dearer

Separately, former minister Patali Champika Ranawaka said a series of international developments had driven a global surge in diesel prices — unrest in the Suez Canal region and Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries among them.

He said a 40% reduction in Russia’s fuel supply to the global market, together with a complete halt in supplies from the United States, had added to the increase.

Speaking at a media briefing, Ranawaka said Sri Lanka should speed up its shift to alternative energy for power generation. “It is time for Sri Lanka to make greater use of alternative energy sources such as wind and solar power, as many other countries have already done,” he said.

The distributors disagree

A separate Hiru filing the same day puts the opposite case. The Petroleum Dealers’ Association warned of possible shortages across the country unless the pricing dispute is resolved.

Association Chairman D.V. Shantha Silva said Lanka IOC, Sinopec and R.M. Parks had told filling station operators that distribution would have to be restricted because they were selling fuel below cost. The government raised prices and introduced a diesel subsidy at the latest revision, but Silva said the three companies still regard the pricing structure as loss-making and have cut the frequency of their orders — which, on his account, is what produced the queues.

Silva said Ceylon Petroleum Corporation stations are not expected to run short, and that the availability problem is concentrated at outlets run by the three private and foreign distributors. That is a materially different explanation from the tanker owners’: not individual station owners failing to order, but three distributors ordering less because of an unresolved dispute with the government over cost-reflective pricing.

The two bodies are distinct constituencies — the tanker owners transport fuel, the dealers operate stations — though outlets render both names loosely, and Shantha Silva has previously been quoted as an office-bearer of the tanker owners’ association as well.

Update, 6 October: the minister’s figures back the dealers, not the tanker owners

The dispute recorded above has been settled by the government. Energy Minister Anura Karunathilake told Parliament on Tuesday that Lanka IOC has cut its market release of auto diesel by 45% and Sinopec its diesel by 66% against February levels, with the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation’s share of supply rising from 54% to 82% to cover the gap. He said queues should ease by Wednesday or Thursday. See the full report.

That supports the Petroleum Dealers’ Association’s account — restricted distribution by the three private companies — rather than the tanker owners’ claim that there was no shortage and that queues came from stations ordering late. Readers should treat the headline claim above as the position of the tanker owners’ association on 5 October, not as a finding.

Not reported

Neither report says how many stations were affected by queues, how large current fuel stocks are, or whether the CPC has commented. Ranawaka did not cite a source for the supply figures he quoted. Neither Lanka IOC, Sinopec nor R.M. Parks has responded publicly to Silva’s account, and no figure has been published for how far their orders have fallen.