Cost of importing a litre of Oil to Sri Lanka is Rs. 27

The Consumer Rights Protection National Organization has called upon the government to give the people the benefit of the sharp world crude oil price drop by reducing the prices of fuel in the local market immediately. President of the CRPNO Ranjith Vithanage said that world crude oil prices had plummeted to a record low yesterday––USD 29.88 a barrel. He said the world market price of crude oil crashed to a 12-year low. It now costs USD 29.88 a barrel for the first time since 2004. Banking groups including the Standard Chartered had predicted it could even reach USD 10 a barrel – a level not seen since 1998. He said the government should slash prices so that local consumers would benefit as in the case of many other countries. “When the cost of importing a litre of oil to Sri Lanka is around Rs. 27.25. However, in the local market price of a petrol litre is Rs 117 and a litre of diesel is Rs 95,” he said. According to the new price levels in the world market, the government could bring down the prices of petrol and diesel to Rs. 90 a litre and Rs 70 a litre respectively, Vithanage said. Vithanage said when the 100-day government came to power the world oil price was USD 80 a barrel and a price reduction had been effected. However, it was unfortunate that the government was silent when the world prices had come down below USD 30 a barrel.