Sri Lanka's Supreme Court directed the government to reduce petrol prices to 100 rupees a litre from 122, by midnight, Wednesday.
But the government said Wednesday it was yet to receive the written court direction.
The stand-off has caused petrol pumps to run dry with long queues of cars being seen around the capital Colombo.
The government has said that cutting petrol prices would result in revenue losses. The director of government information, Anusha Pelpita said an official decision on oil has not been received as of 8.00 pm Thursday.