"With rising petrol and diesel prices, people are finding it difficult to maintain their vehicles and so tend to postpone service decisions."
The two petroleum retailers, the local unit of Indian Oil Corp. and the state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corp. raised fuel prices sharply earlier this month.
But Perera said Chevron Lubricants exports to Bangladesh and the Maldives were growing at "double digit" levels.
Although exports are a comparatively small share of total sales, export volumes almost doubled last year, he said.
The firm, formerly known as Caltex, says it has over 80 percent of the local lubricants market.
But its market is under pressure from Lanka IOC which has started production at its own blending plant n the eastern port of Trincomalee.
Chevron Lubricants Lanka net profit went up 45 percent to 347.7 million rupees in the March quarter, helped by a drop in cost of sales.
"We increased prices on almost all products by 20 percent on average from Monday, June