TT:
NP upgrades to beat gas shortage
By
Carolyn Kissoon
Trinidad Express
Port
Spain
Petroleumworld.com
09 24 06
Panic buying by anxious motorists
last week, drained service stations across the country,
causing operators to close early and place "No
Gas" and "No Diesel" signs on pumps.
But while service station owners
complained of inadequate storage facilities, the
National Petroleum Marketing Company Limited (NP),
which provides the gas to the stations, has devised
a multi-million dollar plan to upgrade the facilities
to ensure that the situation was not repeated.
The long lines at service stations
were sparked by protest action by workers at the
state-owned oil company, Petrotrin. The protest
followed stalled negotiations between the Oilfield
Workers Trade Union (OWTU) and management.
Nneka Luke, NP's corporate communications
manager, said six service stations at locations
throughout the country would undergo upgrades totalling
$4 million to $8 million.
The project, which begins in mid-October,
is expected to be completed in seven -12 months,
she said. Among the service stations listed to undergo
massive infrastructure changes were those at Tragarete
Road and Richmond Streets in Port of Spain; Freeport,
and the Chaguanas flyover.
Luke said long lines at the stations
might soon be a thing of the past, since the upgrade
included improved storage capacity to hold more
premium and super unleaded gasolene.
"The company does not believe
that there is a shortage of service stations, although
there were plans to establish some new ones. We
believe that the service station network needs to
be remediated and operating at optimum," she
said.
Service station owners said the
growing number of vehicles on the nation's roads,
an estimated 700,000, was causing the unusual problem.
They said the stations did not have the facilities
to store enough fuel to supply motorists, especially
on weekends.
Currently, there are some 100 gas
stations throughout the country, following the closure
of 12 in the last two years. About 90 are controlled
by state-owned NP, while the others are run by Unipet.
Luke said service stations would
be examined to determine whether they were operating
at full capacity.
Last month, assistant transport
commissioner Pooran Gobin, in an interview with
the Business Express appealed for more gas stations
at strategic locations. He said: "We need service
stations off the highways."
Winston Medford, executive member
of the Petroleum Dealers Association, said service
stations needed to be upgraded and equipped with
proper storage facility. "We do not need more
service stations, what we need is better service.
We have a larger population and more cars on the
roads, so we need to be able to equip our stations
to handle the growth," he said.
Medford said another issue which
needed to be dealt with was the distribution of
gasolene and diesel. "The smaller service stations
do not have the storage facilities, but the larger
ones are not getting the gas. Recently, I ordered
8,000 gallons of gas and I received 1,500 gallons.
Within three hours the gas finished," he said.
Krishna Mohan, president of the
Petroleum Dealers Co-operative Society, agreed that
there was no need for an increase in the number
of service stations in the country. "I believe
that we need to have the existing stations upgraded
and equipped to operate efficiently," he said.
However, a service station owner
in San Fernando argued that the larger stations
were being refilled before the smaller ones. "Those
stations with tankers are getting the gas, while
the outlining stations, like in the deep south were
not getting," she said.
Luke said: "All stations are
going to get gas. We are working with a limited
number of trucks and we are working to get through
the backlog from the weekend."
The
Business Express was told that the closure of more
than a dozen stations within the past two years
was putting 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.
Trinidad
Express
Wednesday, September 20th 2006
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©2006 Trinidad Express . All Rights Reserved.
