Ensuring timely fuel supply during the Lunar New Year holiday.

(Baonghean.vn) - During the Lunar New Year holiday, the demand for gasoline and diesel will increase, and gasoline and diesel businesses in the province have prepared well to ensure a timely supply to meet market demand.

The main petroleum supply businesses (such as Nghe An Petroleum Company, Military Petroleum Company, PV OIL Vung Ang, etc.) always ensure a stable supply of goods for retail outlets, so the petroleum market in Nghe An province is quite stable, especially during the Lunar New Year of Quy Ty, when the main suppliers prepared large quantities of goods to meet market demand.

Hung Binh gas station in Vinh City promptly meets the fuel consumption needs of customers.

Nghe An Petroleum Joint Stock Company is one of the major petroleum suppliers in the North Central region of Vietnam, and also a company that has boldly invested in developing its retail network in Nghe An. It is projected that during the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday in 2013, the demand for petroleum in the province will increase by approximately 20%. To meet this demand promptly, the company has prepared nearly 20,000 cubic meters of petroleum to supply its retail outlets. Currently, Nghe An Petroleum Joint Stock Company has 63 petroleum retail outlets throughout the province, accounting for over 53% of the petroleum market share in Nghe An.

Thanks to the expansion of the wholesale petroleum market in Thanh Hoa, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, and exports to Laos, in 2012, the company achieved a total sales volume of over 450,000 m3/tons of petroleum products (of which Nghe An province accounted for 210,000 m3/tons) and total revenue exceeding 5,000 billion VND. Mr. Cao Viet Dong – Head of Sales Department of Nghe An Petroleum Joint Stock Company, stated: Along with focusing on developing the wholesale market, the company invested in developing petroleum retail outlets at its facilities. In December 2012, the company inaugurated a petroleum retail store in Quynh Ngoc commune, Quynh Luu district, to promptly serve customer needs during the Tet holiday. In the future, the company aims to develop an additional 3-5 petroleum retail outlets each year to meet customer demand.

In addition, retail gasoline businesses have also made plans to serve customers during the Tet holiday, such as: increasing staff; extending operating hours; strengthening fire prevention and control measures; and preparing backup generators... According to Mr. Cao Viet Dong - Head of Business Department of Nghe An Petroleum Joint Stock Company: Along with preparing all necessary conditions to serve during the Lunar New Year, the company also organized a delegation to visit and encourage staff at retail gasoline outlets and will arrange staff to serve customers promptly during the Tet holiday.

According to statistics, there are currently 585 retail gasoline stations in the province. Vinh City has a total of 39 gasoline stations (including 13 owned by Nghe An Petroleum Joint Stock Company), Tan Ky district has 45 stations, Quynh Luu district has 94, Dien Chau district has 72, etc. It is known that in 2012, the Department of Industry and Trade issued conditional business licenses to 57 gasoline stations and 128 liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) stations.

To protect consumer rights during the Lunar New Year holiday, relevant agencies will coordinate with local authorities to strengthen inspection and control of the petroleum market and will strictly handle violations. Recently, authorities have inspected and dealt with violations by retail gasoline stations regarding price gouging and the sale of gasoline of unknown origin, resulting in fines totaling 135 million VND.

Text and photos: Hoang Vinh