The Malay Mail Online – 11 hours ago
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- Petroleum Dealers Association of Malaysia president, Datuk Hashim Othman, said he …
PETALING JAYA, Dec 2 — The Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism Ministry and oil companies were informed last week that RON97 supply had been running low among petrol operators.
Petroleum Dealers Association of Malaysia president, Datuk Hashim Othman, said it had informed the relevant parties of the shortage last Wednesday.
“Petrol operators always inform oil companies when they run low on supply. Whenever we run out of stock, all we can do is to report the matter to the ministry so they can address the issue,” he said.
“But oil companies would know it already because it is an automated system where they can monitor all the stock among dealers.”
Hashim said he was not sure why supply of RON97 had been low as according to rules set by the ministry, all companies must supply petrol to operators and cannot refuse to restock.
He also highlighted this was first time there had ever been a shortage for RON97 in the country.
“The shortage actually began as early as last Wednesday for some dealers. It is mostly occurring at stations in the east coast and the Klang Valley.”
He said oil companies would send memos to individual operators whenever stock was coming in, and some operators had already received word they would be getting their supply today.
On the managed float implemented yesterday, Hashim said it should not affect operators too much because a float meant prices would fluctuate.
However, Hashim explained there have been issues with oil companies manipulating supply transfers whenever there were announcements of price changes and that might be a new challenge now that prices are announced monthly.
“There are instances whenever the price is about to increase, of some oil companies withholding supply to sell once it is worth more. Then there are times when they fill operators’ stations to the brim just before the price is about to drop,” he said.
Hashim explained that according to the law, operators are allowed to decline stock when stations have fulfilled a minimum of three days’ worth of supply, but some operators continue to accept supply even though they have enough fuel.
“Dealers must learn to be more proactive in reporting whenever they notice oil companies manipulating the supply,” he said.
“We have informed the ministry about this problem in the past.
“If oil companies continue to manipulate supply, we would be forced to close our stations. If we don’t make money, why should we stay open?
“Now that the float is monthly, the chances of oil companies doing this will increase. The government must take action on any oil companies who take advantage of the system.”
