24 companies from 10 countries express interest in selling petroleum in Sri Lanka

Colombo: 24 companies from 10 countries including India have expressed interest in selling petroleum products in Sri Lanka, said the country's Ministry of Power and Energy. The island nation's petroleum sector has been struggling for months and has led to riots on the streets.

The government called for EOI from established companies in July. Firms from petroleum-producing countries are invited to sell products in Sri Lanka on a long-term basis. A panel will now evaluate these proposals and issue Requests for Proposals and finalise the process in six weeks.

Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said companies from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, the United States, China, India, Russia, the UK, Malaysia, Norway, and the Philippines have submitted proposals for the Expressions of Interest (EOI) to engage in the country's petroleum sector, reported Colombo Page.

Sri Lanka has been going through the worst economic crisis since its independence. Fuel shortage has been on top of its problems. The crisis was triggered by a severe paucity of foreign exchange reserves.

In July, the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) said it would expand operations in Sri Lanka by opening 50 fuelling stations and investing in storage tanks and other equipment. The Sri Lankan branch of the company, LIOC, was responsible for supplying fuel to the island between late June and mid-July. The state-owned entity Ceylon Petroleum Corporation ran out of supplies in mid-June.

Sri Lanka is now under a new government led by President Ranil Wickremesinghe. He met with a visiting IMF team on Friday to hold the second round of talks on a bailout package. The country owes USD 51 billion in foreign debt, of which USD 28 billion must be paid by 2027.