The continuing rise in global diesel prices remains a concern for Sri Lanka, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation Chairman D.J. Rajakaruna said on Monday, warning that the next domestic fuel price revision will be difficult.
Rajakaruna told Daily Mirror that diesel prices on world markets have been climbing faster than crude oil benchmarks. The average global diesel price stands at US$1.56 per litre. Sri Lanka imports a share of its diesel directly in addition to refining crude oil to produce it.
Diesel is the fuel most heavily used in transport, power generation and farming, which makes movements in its price particularly consequential for domestic costs.
He said the next price revision would be challenging. “We can manage petrol prices. Still, petrol prices have not come down,” he said.
Daily Mirror reported that conditions in the global diesel market are growing more precarious as the Russia-Ukraine war and the Iran crisis constrain supply from several directions at once. The chairman did not indicate a figure or a date for any revision.
Context
The remarks follow the CPC’s decision at the end of July to leave fuel prices unchanged for August. Rajakaruna said at the time that the corporation was absorbing a loss on every litre of diesel sold rather than passing the increase to consumers.
Sri Lanka revises fuel prices monthly under a pricing formula, and diesel has been the pressure point in recent cycles because global refining margins for it have risen more sharply than crude prices.
