The State Trading Organization (STO) has said that they are working with fuel importers to manage fuel supply and that there are no difficulties currently in importing the fuel needed for Maldives.
With the ongoing war in the Middle East due to the United States of America's (USA) and Israel's attacks on Iran, the price of fuel in the world market has been on the rise.
STO's Managing Director Shimad Ibrahim stated that there are no issues with Maldives' fuel storage and that they are working to import the required fuel with careful intent.
He also stated that Maldives currently has fuel for the next two weeks, with an additional shipment to arrive within next week.
STO believes that a new fuel shipment will arrive on 20th March and 23rd March.
According to Shimad, even if there are no obstacles currently in acquiring fuel, prices will go up in the near future, the reason being that the fuel prices on the world market will go beyond 100 percent.
"The price will be the issue. The diesel and petrol being brought to Maldives is the cleanest oil which has been refined, the price of which has gone up twofold since the start of the war," said Shimad.
STO is currently selling a liter of petrol for MVR 16.01 and a liter of diesel for MVR 17.54. It can be assumed that if the situation continues, the prices of petrol and diesel will go higher than MVR 25.
Along with petrol and diesel, the prices of fuel oil and jet fuel have also gone up by 100 percent. Even though a lot of places have canceled their insurance in importing fuel, Shimad said that Maldives has been importing its fuel after it has been insured.
Aside from STO, The Hawks, Villa and Coastline have their own fuel storages. STO, The Hawks and Villa are currently the only ones who are directly importing fuel to Maldives.
STO said that they are closely monitoring the situation as this is something Maldives has no direct control over.
