Despite inside reports that Emirates General Petroleum Corporation (Emarat) had restored fuel normal supply after days of emptiness, motorists were not getting it by on Thursday evening and the problem was catching up to some other pump stations of different labels.
“I had never had this experienced in more than five years I have lived in the United Arab Emirates (UAE),” said Salim K., an expatriate who said he was lucky to have his car fuelled on the fourth station of EPPCO after trying different fuel pump stations.The shortage of fuel crisis started with Emarat on April 19, which announced it will end on Friday, then inside reports suggested they had resumed on Thursday, but its chain of consequences spread to other pump stations such as EPPCO.
Salim narrated his Wednesday night ordeal to The Gulf Today that saw him failing to get fuel from Down town Deira until he when he got it along Al Mankhool Road in Bur Dubai.
“I had heard there was no fuel on Emarat stations and I had seen some cars queuing up along other petrol stations, but I thought I would easily get it at night. It wasn’t possible near Dafco Hotel in Naif; or near Al Baraha Hospital or at Hamriya.”
The Emarat authorities attribute the shortage to a “logistical problem” at the company’s supply depots.
For Juma Ddamulira, a Ugandan living in Deira, some petrol stations had slammed a quota of Dhs40 on his consumption. The incident happened to him on Thursday evening on a petrol station different from Emarat near the Clock Tower in Dubai.
“I wanted to buy petrol of Dhs50, but the pump attendant said I could only take of Dhs40. I moved forward to another, but he told me I could take of only Dhs30. I told him that his friend was giving me of Dhs40 and so he gave me of that amount.
“However, there was a man driving Benz who looked to be a long safari traveller who was allowed to take petrol of Dhs60.”
As Salim and Juma were hopping here and there for fuel, the Emarat establishment issued a statement to the effect that resumption of supply was to continue on Friday, only to declare early on Thursday the return to business on April 21.
One station manager was quoted on Thursday by the local online outfit, ArabianBusiness.com on condition of anonymity saying, “Today, we received 18,000 litres of fuel supply in the morning. Things are back to normal and we expect to receive a further 18,000 this afternoon. All those stations will resume operations at full capacity as of Friday morning.”