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KUALA LUMPUR – Fuel shortages experienced by travellers during the Hari Raya festive period are caused by logistical delays, but domestic petrol supply is sufficient, said industry stakeholders.
Speaking to The Vibes, the Petrol Dealers Association of Malaysia (PDAM) and the Shell Petroleum Dealers Association of Malaysia (SPDAM) said the unexpected spike in traffic and subsequent congestion coupled with an increase in demand are the main factors behind the fuel shortage.
SPDAM president Datuk Wahid Bidin said travel time more than tripled over the festive week, causing delays for tankers heading to replenish out-of-state petrol kiosks.
“We have the stock, and we have made preparations for Hari Raya, but the increase in traffic this year was nothing like we have experienced before.
“Maybe many were looking to finally return to their hometowns after several years, and that was why our projections on travelling patterns during Raya also went haywire.”
He said a surge in demand began as far as 10 days before Hari Raya, which eventually increased to more than 150% across all petrol brands over the past week.
Wahid said a trip from Dengkil to Ipoh, which usually takes no more than six hours to complete, was an 18-hour trip over the festive period.
PDAM president Datuk Khairul Annuar Abdul Aziz concurred, saying station operators usually expect an increase of around 20% to 30% during Hari Raya but were caught off guard by the volume of travellers this year.
He said operators saw around a 40% to 50% spike in demand as they struggled to cope.
“It is a Raya with sales higher than any other Raya we had before for sure so that caused havoc, and planning-wise, the oil companies also did not anticipate this much of an increase.
“Everybody expected it to be not that far off from the previous Raya, but it was very far off, but again I must stress that the fuel stock in Malaysia is enough, this is about getting the fuel to the stations.”
Both Wahid and Khairul said they expect the supply at these stations to regularise over the next few days.
“In fact, most stations have already stabilised, maybe with just one or two dry pumps; it should be fully stabilised over the weekend,” said Wahid.
This follows reports of social media users who were said to have been stranded during their drive home after running out of fuel and contending with empty petrol stations along interstate highways.
Users had complained about kiosks running out of the subsidised RON95 fuel, forcing many to refuel with the more expensive RON97 that retails at RM3.94 per litre as opposed to RON95’s RM2.05.
There were also claims of stations enforcing sales caps on each customer, ranging from RM20 to RM30.
A Twitter user known as @macmannnn_ said that the second petrol station he went to only allowed a refill of RM30, while user @nmhatt_ expressed surprise that many stations ran out of the RON95 fuel.
Another user, @larviosar, said the fridges at petrol stations were empty and there were long queues to use the toilet facilities. – The Vibes, May 7, 2022
Additional reporting by Rubini Nagarajah
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