Restrictions were imposed at several gas stations due to the feverish demand for diesel fuel in Almaty. Tengrinews.kz reports.
The city administration noted that the shortage of diesel fuel arose for several reasons.
«There is a feverish demand for diesel fuel in Almaty from the residents of Almaty region, as well as owners of transit vehicles. This caused a one-time increase in consumption by 30-35 percent and led to interruptions in supplies (untimely replenishment of tanks) at some gas stations,» the officials said.
In order to provide residents of the city, bus fleets and public utilities services, a limit on sale of diesel fuel has been introduced at certain gas stations.
«Diesel fuel is being monitored on the way, and issues related to wagons standing idle in other regions are being quickly worked out,» administration of Almaty explained.
The situation is expected to stabilize after the completion of repairs at Shymkent oil refinery. According to preliminary information from the Ministry of Energy, the work will be completed in the first ten days of April.
There are 213 gas filling stations in Almaty, and six large chains own 176 filling stations (82 percent) of them. Fuel and lubricants are supplied to the city from three oil refineries: Shymkent refinery Petro Kazakhstan Oil Products (40 percent), Pavlodar Petrochemical Plant (35 percent) and Atyrau refinery (25 percent).
«Since March 15, after the closure of Shymkent refinery for major repairs, the supply of diesel fuel to Almaty was stopped. During this period, supplies amounted to about 12,000 tons from the Pavlodar Petrochemical Plant and Atyrau refinery. To date, about 8,800 tons of diesel fuel are available at large gas stations and oil depots of the city, and about 4,700 tons are expected to be delivered within four to five days,» the officials added.
Earlier, residents of Almaty and the region with the same name complained about the lack of diesel fuel at gas stations. According to the townspeople, since March 15 it has been impossible to buy diesel fuel at retail.
