COLOMBO, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- Twenty-four companies from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, the United States, China, India, Russia, Britain, Malaysia, Norway, and the Philippines are interested in the petroleum business in Sri Lanka, a government official said.

Sri Lankan Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera said Sunday nigh that his ministry has appointed a committee to evaluate the expressions of interest (EOIs) submitted by the foreign firms, which will finalize the process within six weeks.

Wijesekera said companies in petroleum-producing countries were invited to import, distribute and sell petroleum products in Sri Lanka.

The minister added 700 gas stations under the state-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) can be given to selected companies for operations, and the selected companies can also use other CPC facilities on a commercial basis, he said.

Currently, the CPC and the Lanka Indian Oil Corporation are permitted to distribute fuel to retail customers.

Wijesekera said that the CPC, which holds 80 percent of the retail petroleum market, is unable to keep on supplying fuel because of dollar shortages.