At least 24 foreign companies are interested in the petroleum business in Sri Lanka, a government official said on Monday.

The companies are from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, the United States, China, India, Russia, Britain, Malaysia, Norway, and the Philippines.

Kanchana Wijesekera, Sri Lankan Minister of Power and Energy, said his ministry “has appointed a committee to evaluate the expressions of interest (EOIs) submitted by the foreign firms”, which will finalise the process within six weeks.

Mr Wijesekera said companies in petroleum-producing countries were invited to import, distribute and sell petroleum products in Sri Lanka.

The minister added that 700 gas stations under the state-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) could be given to selected companies for operation.

He said the selected companies could also use other CPC facilities commercially.

The CPC and the Lanka Indian Oil Corporation can distribute fuel to retail customers.

Mr Wijesekera said the CPC, which holds 80 per cent of the retail petroleum market, could not keep supplying fuel because of dollar shortages. 

In June, Sri Lanka’s cabinet of ministers approved a proposal to allow companies from oil-producing nations to import oil and start retail operations in the South Asian country.

(Xinhua/NAN)