Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila has stated that there will be no fuel shortage in the country until January next year and that the supply of fuel will continue until then.

He also requested the opposition not to "spread lies" stating that there would be a continuing oil shortage in the country.

The Minister said that it was natural to run into fuel supply issues when a country was facing a foreign exchange crisis.

"However, there was no shortage of fuel in Sri Lanka, as the government took steps to allocate fuel on a 'limited foreign exchange priority' basis," Gammanpila added.

The Minister made this observation while speaking at a media briefing held at the Ministry of Energy yesterday (29).

He also expressed confidence that there would be a "good response" from across the world for the bidding process for petroleum exploration next December.