Sri Lanka brings in four-day week to eke out stocks of oil and gas hit by Iran war

Effective closure of strait of Hormuz also affecting Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, which have brought in crisis measures Sri Lanka is introducing a shorter four-day working week to preserve its shrinking fuel and gas reserves, as the Middle East conflict continues to severely disrupt energy supplies in the region. Countries across south Asia are facing crippling shortages of fuel and LPG gas, which are used for everything from home cooking to cremating bodies, as most supplies have been held up in the Gulf since the US and Israel began bombing Iran. The strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping route for most of south Asia’s oil and gas, has effectively been shut for two weeks as it has been blockaded by Iran in retaliation for the US and Israeli strikes. All countries in the region import almost all their fuel and gas and most warned they only have enough supplies to keep the lights on for a few more weeks. Bangladesh, fearful of running of out fuel to power the garment factories that are crucial to its economy, announced early Ramadan holidays for universities to save energy and has imposed scheduled power blackouts. Pakistan, which relies on 85% of its energy coming through the st