No refinery shortage, pump crunch in Assam due to OMCs & panic buying: Oil sources

GUWAHATI, March 27: There is no shortage of petrol and diesel in the refineries of Assam, but there is a shortage at fuel pumps because of two reasons – reluctance of oil marketing companies (OMCs) to lift adequate stock from refineries and panic buying by the people.

There have been long queues in front of the petrol pumps and some pumps have even closed down due to non-availability of stock. This did not happen because of fuel shortage.

Oil industry sources told The Assam Tribune that all the four refineries of Assam are running at 100 per cent capacity and they have adequate stock of petrol and diesel. But refineries do not sell directly to the consumers. Earlier, Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) had its own petrol pumps but now those have been handed over to Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL).

Sources said OMCs have to buy from refineries at the refinery transfer price, which is linked with the international price. At this moment, the global price is high and refineries are in a good economic condition. But it is tough for the OMCs.

The fuel prices are fixed by the government and at this moment, the government is not allowing the OMCs to hike prices. Since OMCs have to procure fuel from refineries at a higher price, they are incurring losses.

To minimise the losses, the OMCs are not lifting adequate stocks resulting in shortage of petrol and diesel in the market. Some petrol pumps have even closed down and the common people are suffering.

If the international price comes down, then the refinery transfer price will also come down and the OMCs will start lifting adequate stocks and the crisis will ease out. The government can also compensate the OMCs for the losses they are incurring at this moment because of the gap between the refinery transfer price and the retail sale price for the benefit of the consumers.