Fuel prices: No changes

Despite the price of crude oil falling in the world market, local fuel prices will remain unchanged, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources Development stated.

Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Minister of Petroleum Resources Development Mahinda Amaraweera said the prices had been fluctuating throughout last month and therefore, the current low price in the world market would not impact local prices.

Amaraweera said that the price of a barrel of crude oil in the world market was at $ 62 on 1 January and rose to $ 67 on 6 January when the US and Iran conflict erupted. The prices had further increased to $ 71 on 7 January and again last Tuesday, it was at $ 71.

“The prices are fluctuating on a daily basis and therefore, the prices cannot be reduced even though it went down today,” he stressed.

Meanwhile, Co- Cabinet Spokesman, Information and Communications Technology and Higher Education, Technology, and Innovations Minister Bandula Gunawardana stated last week that the Government had incurred a loss of Rs. 12 billion due to the non-implementation of the fuel price formula.

He also stressed that even though the fuel price formula was good, the way it had been implemented by the previous Government couldn’t be accepted.

However, an official of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) told The Sunday Morning that the major loss incurred by the CPC was from kerosene which was heavily used by buses instead of diesel.

The official said that the CPC sold fuel at a lower rate than it should and as a result, the CPC incurred huge losses.

(Source: The Morning)