Sol is out of diesel, but the country isn’t out of fuel

The fuel woes currently being experienced by one of this country’s suppliers of gasoline and diesel are expected to continue well into the week.{{more}}

General Manager of Sol EC Ltd, speaking to SEARCHLIGHT yesterday, confirmed that the petrol stations which it supplies are out of diesel, but had a limited amount of gasoline.

“But that doesn’t mean that the country is out [of fuel], because there is another supplier, but we are out,” the general manager said.

There was no definite time of arrival of the fuel vessel, Francis explained, adding that while a shipment is expected this week, he could not provide a definite date for this arrival.

“We expected an arrival tomorrow (today, Tuesday), but basically we understand that that ship will not be be here,” Francis said.

“We are getting some shifts in dates, but in the interim, we are making alternative arrangements,” he told SEARCHLIGHT.

A press statement released yesterday indicates that the shortage is because of an ongoing labour dispute at Petrotrin in Trinidad, the primary supplier of petroleum products to oil companies in the region.

It indicated that in addition to St Vincent and the Grenadines, other countries across the region were also being affected.

In the meantime, Francis said that the company is trying to make alternate arrangements.

“We are keeping in touch with our corporate headquarters, because they are the ones who arrange the shipping, they are the ones who negotiate with shipping companies,” he said.

According to Francis, shipments arrive every 10 to 12 days and the issue is not one of insufficient storage space in the country.

“Rather it is the ability for the ships to get here on time and not only on time, but with the relevant quantities, because sometimes they may not be able to get the required quantity out of Trinidad and we end up getting smaller quantities than expected,” he said.

Meanwhile, a representative from Rubis West Indies Ltd said that the only issue they are facing is an increase in sales because of the shortage being faced by Sol.

“Rubis is perfectly fine,” the representative said, adding that the company was trying its best to keep up with the increase in demand.

She also said that Rubis is in a position to handle the increase in demand.

“We are perfectly good and we are ready,” she said.

At the time of speaking to the Rubis representative yesterday afternoon, the Rubis delivery truck had just returned from delivering gasoline and diesel to Georgetown and other stations. The truck was about to make its way to refill diesel at the station in Kingstown that had run empty, due to the increased sales.(DD)