BHUBANESWAR: Even as the Centre and state governments have claimed adequate oil stock in the wake of the West Asia conflict, the move to impose sale limit on fuel at petrol pumps by oil companies in the state has raised serious fears of impending shortage. What was supposed to be an internal communication of the oil companies, came to public domain after a dealer at CRP Square here put up a notice for the customers mentioning the limit on the sale of petrol and diesel.
As per the directive, the fuel stations have been asked to not sell more than 50 litre petrol and 500 litre high speed diesel (HSD) to a customer. The dealers have been warned that strict compliance was mandatory and that they were being closely monitored. Currently, industrial diesel costs around Rs 22 more than commercial diesel per litre. The oil companies put a restriction on the sale of fuel in a bid to deter attempts by the industries to make bulk purchases of diesel from the petrol pumps, sources said.
All India Petroleum Dealers’ Association secretary general Sanjay Lath said the step was taken to ensure the industries do not buy diesel in bulk from the petrol pumps. “Petrol pumps have been asked to share the CCTV footage of the heavy vehicles which refill more than 500 litre diesel,” he added. Lath also said the stock of petrol and diesel in the country is adequate as of now and per barrel (159 litre) crude oil is being imported at 108 USD.
The situation may only change if the imports are severely affected, he added. Sources said the capital city’s daily consumption of petrol and diesel stands at 3.20 lakh litre and 2.20 lakh litre respectively, which is being met without any hiccup. The oil companies said such a directive was issued to their respective dealers but maintained there was no shortage of fuel.