On 2 March 2026, long vehicle queues formed at fuel stations across Sri Lanka. Reuters reported that conflict involving Iran had raised fears of disrupted oil supplies, prompting drivers to fill up in advance. A three-wheeler driver in Colombo said the country had enough fuel even as people flocked to stations.
The immediate cause was not empty pumps. In a society still recovering from a financial crisis and earlier fuel shortages, individually sensible efforts to avoid a future shortage created congestion in the present. The queue was both a response to supply risk and a physical memory of what previous scarcity had meant.