Petrol sale doubles amid panic buying in Nagpur

Nagpur: Vidarbha guzzled more than double its daily quota of petrol on Tuesday — when the panic buying began and continued at the same pace on Wednesday. A senior official in one of the PSU oil companies said normally 800 kilolitres (KL) of petrol is sold by the company daily in Vidarbha. As against this, the sale touched nearly 2,200KL on Tuesday.

Diesel sale, on the other hand, went up by one and a half times of a normal day, say sources in the oil marketing companies. In Nagpur city, the sale of both the fuels doubled on Tuesday and continued at a similar pace on Wednesday. This was enough for mass drying of pumps in the region as replenishments did not match the pace. The three oil PSU companies roughly enjoy a market share of 30% to 35% each.


On a normal day, not more than 1800KL of diesel is sold by the same company, the sales touched 3,000 KL on Tuesday, and the trend continues, said the official requesting anonymity and also withholding the company's name. There was a similar trend with other companies too, as TOI inquired. So if all the PSU companies' market share is considered, the three combined are estimated to have sold as much as 6000KL of petrol and roughly 10,000KL of diesel throughout the region. This is as much as a day's total stock held in its huge container by a single petroleum depot from which retail outlets get the supplies.

It all began with Gujarat two-three days ago and soon the panic spread to Maharashtra, said sources. The high-speed sale was met with slow replenishment of stock from the depots due to various reasons. The first was a stoppage of credit system and strict insistence on advance payment by the petrol pumps before getting a refill. Even in normal times, it would have led to a dry run, said officials. However, dealers said the curbs from the companies' side have only come after the West Asia crisis.

In Nagpur city, which has 64 pumps, each company sells 170-240KL petrol in a given day, the tally doubled due to panic sales, said sources. So was with diesel.

"Now the pump owners have to deposit the day's cash in the banks and then the amount is sent by RTGS to the company. It takes two to three hours for the companies to credit the amount in their accounts. However, lately none of the dealers whose amounts reach after 2.30pm can get their tanker refilled on the same day," said Amit Gupta, president of Federation of Maharashtra Petroleum Dealers Association (FAMPEDA). Earlier stock could be lifted on credit.

Nayara Energy's depot at Wardha is a major source of supplies for the oil companies and is shutting down operations after 2.30pm. This leaves rest of the tankers, even if advance payment is made. BPCL, which has a depot at Borkhedi, over 37km from Nagpur, is open till late hours but observes the 2.30pm deadline for receiving payment, he said.

Sources said even the quota has been limited to last year's offtake by a petrol pump. One of the companies is insisting on lifting lubricants if the pumps wanted their supply of fuels, said sources among dealers. All the changes are recent.

In times of high crude prices, slowing the sales can help companies curtail their losses, a source suggested. Both dealers and companies stressed that there is no dearth of stock at any of the depots. Panic buying would only worsen the situation. Vidarbha gets its fuel supplies from depots belonging to BPCL, Nayara Energy, and IOCL's depots in Akola and Chandrapur. Nayara Energy, which is the key source in Nagpur and adjoining districts, had 2,900KL petrol and 9,800KL diesel on Wednesday. Another 2,900KL petrol and 3.734KL diesel is on the way.

The BPCL depot had 3,500KL petrol and 10,500KL diesel as on Wednesday, according to figures reported to the district administration. On Tuesday, the Borkhedi depot had 4,500KL petrol and 12,000KL diesel.

IOCL's depot at Tadali in Chandrapur had an opening stock of 2,700KL petrol and 8,700KL diesel on Wednesday. The Gaigoan depot in Akola had over 10 days' stock, said sources.

Earlier, IOC had a depot at Khapri, which has shut down as the railway has taken over the land in which it had its siding. Had the IOC pump been there, the pressure could have been eased to a certain extent, said a source.

(With inputs from Mlind Ande, Mazhar Ali and Dhananjay Sable)