Petrol flows again at Sharjah stations after 24-hour shortage

Stations on King Faisal Road and in the Yarmook and Al Khan neighbourhoods ran out of petrol yesterday, resulting in long queues.


SHARJAH , UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Ð May 13 , 2013 : Motorist refueling their cars at the ADNOC gas station near King Faisal road in Sharjah. ( Pawan Singh / The National ) For News. Story by Yasin Kakande
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SHARJAH // Petrol is once again flowing at Adnoc stations in Sharjah city after supplies of fuel were delivered yesterday.

Pumps ran dry on Monday at stations on King Faisal Road and in the Yarmook and Al Khan neighbourhoods after stocks of Special and E-Plus petrol sold out.

“The supply truck came around this morning from Ras Al Khaimah and now we have all petrol types full in stock,” said an attendant at the Adnoc station in Al Khan.

The long queues of vehicles that formed outside of Emarat stations, which were unaffected by the 24-hour shortage, were nowhere to be seen as motorists filled up with ease.

However, Adnoc were not avaiable to give an explanation as to what caused the shortage or give assurances to customers that it would not happen again.

Motorists in the Northern Emirates have got used to having to wait in long lines to fill up since the closure of the Eppco and Enoc stations in 2011.

The shortage of pumps means even the slightest disruption to supplies by either Adnoc or Emarat, the only two fuel companies supplying the area, causes problems.

The issue was made more difficult earlier this year when a number of older, private petrol stations that worked under the “Emirates” branding closed down in the Northern Emirates.

Two stations in Al Arouba Street in Sharjah, one on Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid Street in Ajman and another on King Faisal Road in Umm Al Quwain have shut up shop.

After the the Enoc group, which owns the Enoc and Eppco stations, stopped supplying petrol to the Northern Emirates in 2011, the Sharjah government issued a 72-hour ultimatum to resume refuelling or close down all its stations.

This ultimatum was not met and the pumps were closed.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, intervened and ordered Adnoc to take action.

The company has since increased its supply of fuel to the Northern Emirates and is building more petrol stations.

ykakande@thenational.ae