700,000
vehicles put heavy demand on NP supply
By
Ariti Jankie, South Bureau
Trinidad
Express
Port
Spain
Petroleumworld.com
08 27 06
The growing number of vehicles on the nation's roads
is causing an unusual problem for gas station owners
- they do not have the facilities to store enough
fuel to supply motorists, especially on weekends.
As a result, motorists are being
greeted with "No Diesel" and "No
Gas" signs at many stations at the start of
the week.
Currently, there are some 100 gas
stations throughout the country. More than 90 are
controlled by state-owned National Petroleum Company
Limited, while the others are run by Unipet.
It was pointed out that several
stations had closed in recent years and few new
ones had opened. This, it was said, had put pressure
on the existing stations, which now do not have
the capacity to store enough fuel to meet demand
as they were built when there were fewer vehicles
on the road.
Assistant Transport Commis-sioner,
Pooran Gobin, yesterday estimated that there were
some 700,000 vehicles on the road and insufficient
service stations in the country.
Appealing for more gas stations
at strategic locations, he said: "We need service
stations off the highways."
NP's corporate communications manager,
Nneka Luke, yesterday said the company would be
involved in upgrading a number of stations over
the next few months. However, she said measures
were being put in place to address a number of matters,
including shortages.
The no gas problem hit home again
yesterday at several stations.
A spokesman at Harry's Service Station,
Cross Crossing, San Fernando, said the station had
sold out over the weekend and had to wait for supplies
to be delivered yesterday morning.
He said it had been an "extremely
busy weekend with motorists heading for the trade
fairs at Paria Suites, La Romaine, and at Lall's
Complex, Penal.
Cecil Boodoosingh, owner of two
service stations, one in San Fernando and the other
at Claxton Bay, said that the delivery of gas to
the stations took place a day after the order was
placed.
He said that most of the service
stations had a storage capacity of up to 5,000 gallons
and on weekends this was usually sold out. Boodoosingh
said that the inability to increase the storage
facility required dealers to order a daily supply.
Boodoosingh added: "Several
stations have closed down because the storage tanks
were contaminated or leaking."
He said many of the stations were
in existence for 20-25 years, with storage tanks
being built underground during the construction.
Contacted on the issue, NP's distribution
manager, Arrie Wright, said the output at state-owned
oil company Petrotrin's Pointe-a-Pierre Bond, from
where fuel distribution takes place, has been below
the market requirements.
He said there has been an increase
in motorists and industrial areas but "we have
been unable to match the volume [of fuel] needed".
Wright
said that work had begun on upgrading the facilities
at Pointe-a-Pierre to produce and distribute increased
volumes to meet the demand, especially in southern
districts.
Trinidad Express
Tuesday,
August 15th 2006
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