HCMC – The southern province of Binh Duong had had 173 gas stations suspending operations for various reasons by October 11, according to the provincial Department of Industry and Trade.
Binh Duong has 477 gas stations and nine distributors with fuel reserves of over 66,000 cubic meters.
Among the 173 closed gas stations, 123 have shut as their fuel trading business certificates expired, 17 are seeking approval for business conversion and 30 closed down pending fuel trading business certificates.
By yesterday afternoon, local people and workers flocked to the operational gas stations for refueling. They had to wait an average 15-30 minutes each to get their vehicles refilled with a limited amount of fuel, Thanh Nien Online reported.
Commenting on the issue, a representative of the provincial Department of Industry and Trade said many gas stations had to suspend their fuel sales as they were encountering losses from higher operating costs and no distributor discounts.
The loss-making gas stations closed down in droves while the demand for fuel among local people remained high. Therefore, they swarmed into operational gas stations, resulting in congestion at these places, the representative explained.
