Fuel station upgrading to take weeks

Process will begin in Dubai once the work is completed in Sharjah and northern emirates

Currently 84 stations are being upgraded with improved dispensing equipment and out of the 86 pumps in Dubai, only the older ones will be upgraded.

Sharjah motorists are forced to drive around the emirate hunting for petrol with several stations running dry. Pumps do not have petrol, but convenience stores are open to thirsty motorists parched by the rising temperatures. (Clockwise) Cars line up at an Adnoc station to fill petrol as Enoc, Eppco and Emarat pumps only offer soft drinks and chips.

Sharjah: Long queues and disruptions at Enoc and Eppco stations in Sharjah and the northern emirates could last for two to three weeks before moving on to Dubai.

Khalid Hadi, head of corporate communications for Enoc/Eppco, told Gulf News that "system upgrading" was to blame for the delays, which entered their fifth day yesterday.

"The upgrading work on the distribution pump and system has been extended to Ajman and Sharjah," Hadi said.

He said that 84 stations are being upgraded with improved dispensing equipment and the resulting disruptions are expected to last for the next two to three weeks.

Once upgrades in Sharjah and the northern emirates are complete, the work will move to Dubai. Enoc and Eppco stations in the city are expected to experience similar disruptions which are estimated to last for one month.

"Not all the stations will undergo upgrading. Some new Enoc and Eppco sites already have the latest systems. There are 86 stations in Dubai and only the older ones will be upgraded," said Hadi.

They intend to update 130 service stations in total.

Analysts believe that there may be different approaches to mass system upgrades to prevent excessive disruption.

"In theory, if you're upgrading your distribution systems, you might close down one service station at a time, or turn off one pump at a time to ensure the majority of stations remain open.

"A large number of pumps closed by service stations for a couple of weeks means a lot of disruption," Samuel Ciszuk, a Middle East energy analyst at IHS Global Insight, told Gulf News.

According to a resident of Fujairah, petrol shortages in the northern emirates present a challenge to motorists because of the distance between petrol stations.

"Petrol shortages are also in Fujairah, Kalba and Dibba. It's very difficult to manage the long distances and travelling between stations," said Goldie, a resident of Fujairah.

Fuel subsidies lead to waste: Expert believes low cost encourages lavish consumption patterns  
 
In the Middle East and North Africa's hydrocarbon-rich countries, gasoline, petrol and diesel have been generously subsidised as one way of giving the resource back to the population, says Samuel Ciszuk, a Middle East energy analyst at IHS Global Insight to Gulf News.

The flipside is that the population becomes used to cheap motor fuels, creating a wasteful consumption pattern which starts to eat into the resources, Ciszuk says.

Saudi Arabia, the world's largest producer, has its own integrated operations and can refine its crude and reserve some of the products for the domestic markets. This is the case with most other big oil producers, he says.

In Dubai and to some extent the northern emirates, they don't have domestic production to meet the demand. So they have to pay market prices. This has been rising with increasing petrol prices, according to the analyst.

He says there has been talk of cutting the subsidies over the last few years. However, in the wake of the last few months of regional upheaval, governments are not ready to bear the political costs of a reform that would add to people's living costs.