Fuel stations in Rayalaseema dists dry out due to panic buying

Tirupati: As the protracted Iran-US conflict continues to deepen the global energy crisis, ‘no stock' boards at several fuel stations across Kurnool and Nandyal districts triggered a mad rush for fuel in the two Rayalaseema districts on Saturday. Despite repeated assurances from both the central and state govts, and also the oil marketing companies (OMCs) that the country has enough stocks of fuel and the refineries were operating at 100% capacities, several petrol bunks went dry in Kurnool district, following a situation of panic buying since Thursday. According to Kurnool district administration, there are 166 fuel stations across the district, which include IOCL (51), BPCL (32), HPCL (62), and Nayara (21), out of which 32 outlets ran out of fuel.Kurnool collector Dr A Siri said while the average daily consumption of petrol in the district is approximately 2.3 lakh litres, about 7 lakh litres are available at the operating fuel stations, while 6 lakh litres of petrol stocks in transit will add to the existing stocks shortly. In total, the district has about 14 lakh litres of petrol stocks, which should help meet the requirements of the district for a week, she said. "Similarly, while the average daily consumption of diesel in the district is around 3.16 lakh litres, operating fuel stations have around 5.65 lakh litres of diesel stocks and 5.35 lakh litres are in transit. The district has sufficient diesel stocks to meet the requirements for the next four days," she added.Panic buyingWhen asked why the 32 fuel stations went dry, the collector attributed it to panic buying. "The sudden rush was triggered by fear and anxiety among the people, who rushed to fuel stations with plastic cans and barrels to get as much fuel as possible and stock them. Sales at several fuel stations doubled due to panic buying, eventually leading to drying out of stocks. We understand that rumours about possible disruption in fuel supplies and a hike in fuel prices caused fear among the public, which triggered the rush and panic buying. We assure people that there are enough fuel stocks and supplies are intact, and appeal to them to not resort to panic buying," the district collector said.Instances of public manhandling petrol station attendants were also reported at some places due to the mad rush. "We urge people to not stock fuel at their homes as such activities lead to artificial shortage and those in real need of petrol and diesel for various emergencies will suffer," she added.Disruption in supplies of diesel and petrol and temporary closure of petrol stations was also reported in Nandyal, Kadapa, and Tirupati districts. The ‘no stock' boards at several fuel stations further added to the chaos. Fuel station dealers said the panic-buying-driven high-speed sales were met with slow replenishment of stocks from depots. "The oil companies are insisting on advance payments now, which is one of the reasons why several petrol pumps went dry besides shortages in other districts," said a dealer.