We will be reducing our prices by one rupee on a litre of petrol and diesel with effect from midnight Friday. It is essential that we regain our normal volumes and bring down our costs per litre, K Ramakrishnan, Managing Director of LIOC, told LBO.
The rupee drop in price now matches fuel sold at Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (Ceypetco) sheds.
A litre of petrol and diesel at both outlets will now sell at 101 rupees a litre, while diesel will sell at 67 rupees a litre. Ceypetco also sells kerosene at 48 rupees a litre.
Ramakrishnan says the company will be able to cover losses at this price, if it is able to regain total volume sales. LIOC dropped prices earlier in September, pricing it a rupee higher than Ceypetco.
Even at this price difference, we still saw a 50 percent drop in volumes. This means the market, even in Colombo, is very price sensitive and we have had to carry out a correction to regain volumes.
Both parties were allowed to set their own prices from