Enoc and Eppco stations get supplies

Fujairah, Dubai: Petrol was finally delivered to most Eppco and Enoc service stations on the East Coast after almost a day of dry pumps that caused a major problem for motorists with nearly empty fuel tanks.

Motorists wanting to refuel on Monday were turned away with empty tanks as regular petrol deliveries were not made.

Crisis

The situation continued yesterday morning at most petrol stations until the first deliveries started to arrive in Fujairah city after 10am.

A number of stations ran out of all categories of petrol. However, others only lacked the Special (98 octane) variety.

The petrol shortage appears to have hit across the East Coast, including Khor Fakkan and Dibba Al Hisn.

Normal services continued for other petrol pro-viders.

A number of petrol station managers told Gulf News they were still not getting their full quota of deliveries, saying they will have to make other orders in the next few days.

Most reported deliveries of only 2,000 to 3,000 gallons, considerably short of full tank capacities of 8,000 to 10,000 gallons.

For now, however, normal services appear to have returned and most motorists, who were refuelling yesterday, were unaware of the shortages.

Emirates Petroleum Products Company (Eppco), whose parent company is Emirates National Oil Company (Enoc) and is a joint venture with Caltex, has 120 service stations of Eppco in Dubai and the Northern Emirates, and 12 fuel stations in Fujairah alone.

Reaction

Khalid Hadi, public relations manager of Enoc, refused to comment on the subject, despite repeated queries.

Emirates General Petro-leum Corporation (Emarat) has 174 filling stations across the country with 20 in Fujairah itself.

The reason behind their supply disruption is still not clear, as the company was not available for comment.