Fuel rationing in SA begins to bite as Gulf tensions rise

The fallout from the Gulf war is being felt in Nelson Mandela Bay, where fuel stations are running dry, triggering long queues and high prices. While there’s no immediate evidence of a supply shortage from theGulf, the catalyst is the reduced volumes being released by the petroleum companies — which point to the war, and their need to protect existing stocks. Questions are being asked around how much this shortage or impending shortage is the problem — and how much is mere strategising by the suppliers with an eye on the anticipated fuel price increases on April 1.

Whatever the case, the result has been long queues at filling stations, not enough fuel to go around, and alleged varying price hikes at the different retail outlets, all generated by a supplier surcharge. Johan du Plessis, PE Fuels Group MD and owner of Engen Truck Stop in Swartkops, said the problem started ealier this month. “We would go to the gantry requesting a certain amount [of fuel] and they would give us much less.

“When we queried it, they told us it was the Gulf war, which was jeopardising supply, and consequently they needed to protect their stock. The result is we have been running dry at about 2pm daily and the same is being experienced at other retail outlets.” He said most of the major oil companies had implemented product rationing, some more aggressively than others, which had led to stock outages provincially and nationally. “As a result, retail petrol stations and fuel resellers have also had to introduce rationing measures and cap volumes sold to customers.

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“This is being done to prevent sites from running dry and to manage panic buying and stockpiling. “While not officially attributed to a supply shortage, these constraints are materially affecting availability on the ground, and there’s currently no clear indication of when conditions will normalise.” Du Plessis said price had been affected, stemming from the surcharges most petroleum companies have introduced across all products. “These vary by supplier but are broadly in the range of 5c to over R4 per litre for petrol, 20c to over R8 per litre for diesel, and up to around R10 per litre for illuminating paraffin.

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