VietNamNet Bridge - Expectations of an impending price hike prompted petrol stations in several Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta localities to close down and/or rationed fuel sales during the just concluded Liberation Day and May Day holiday.

These actions caused many difficulties for residents as well as those passing through the localities with motorbikes, cars and boats, local reports say.

The Tuoi tre (The Youth) newspaper reported yesterday that many petrol stations on a 30km stretch on National Highway No53 that runs the Cau Ngang and Duyen Hai districts in Tra Vinh Province remained closed on Monday.

This was also the case on National Highway No54 sections in Tra Cu and Cau Ke districts in the same province, it said.

Several stations hung signboards outsider that read “power outage”, even though there was evidently no power cut in the area.

An employee of a petrol station belonging to Petrolimex Tra Vinh in Long Toan Commune, Duyen Hai District, said that they remained opened on Monday but only sold fuel to regular customers since they had limited quantity of petrol in stock and most private outlets in the area were closed.

Many residents said that stations that were operating capped sales per customer to two litres or even VND20,000 (US$0.96) worth of fuel per motorbike.

In Long An Province, many petrol stations in Tan Thanh District closed due to a power outage, making it difficult for farmers to irrigate their summer-autumn crop.

The Phuc Hung petrol station in the province’s Tan Lap Commune, Tan Thanh District, capped sales at VND30,000 ($1.44) worth for each motorbike while the TB station in Hung Dien B Commune, Tan Hung District, sold petrol at VND22,000 ($1.06) per liter, VND700 higher than the official rate.

Many petrol stations in Chau Thanh and Cai Lay districts of Tien Giang Province, including Thieu Minh station in Nhi My Commune, capped sales at VND20,000-30,000, or closed doors for several hours.

In An Giang Province, many stations along National Highway No 91, which experienced a lot of traffic during the four-day holiday, closed doors or limited sales at VND20,000 per motorbike and VND50,000 ($2.4) per car.

In Binh Phuoc Province, many stations did not open, forcing residents to buy petrol in the black market at higher prices.

Nguyen The Toan of Loc Ninh District said the Hoang Trong and Hoang Son stations on National Highway No.13 closed their doors for no reason.

Similarly, many petrol stations in Tan Phu District, Dong Nai Province, closed their doors and hung signboards saying “power outage” while the whole area still had electricity supply.

The situation was more serious in border and remote areas where people could not buy petrol to run motorboats, water pumps and agricultural machinery.

Key petrol suppliers including Petrolimex, Sai Gon Petro and PV Oil said had fulfilled all orders from outlets in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta.

However, “we cannot control the business of agents,” one official said.

Source: VNS