Govt. doubles up measures for deal with Qatar for petroleum purchases
Posted on March 2nd, 2025
Courtesy The Daily Mirror
Colombo, March 03 (Daily Mirror) – In a bid to avert any energy crisis in the future, the government is hurriedly taking measures to purchase both petroleum products, including LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) from Qatar under a government-to-government agreement, an official said.
Chairman of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) D.A. Rajakaruna told Daily Mirror that two rounds of talks had been conducted with Qatar Energy, formerly Qatar Petroleum, to explore the possibility of importing such products at cheaper rates under a government-to-government deal.
He said Qatar Energy is a state-owned company and, therefore, energy purchases under such a deal are possible.
Asked about similar plans with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), he said, “In that country, only private companies handle the process.”
Currently, Sri Lanka purchases fuel from the open market after calling for tenders from suppliers.
Besides, the government is planning for the rationalisation of setting up new filling stations in the future.
Mr. Rajakaruna said around 1,300 filling stations are in operation at the moment, but most of them have been set up in an ad hoc manner.
“At every junction, there is a filling station. Hereafter, new ones will be put up according to a scientific map being worked out by the Moratuwa University, ” he said.