Fuel station to shut down

By SHIRLEY MAULUDU
A SERVICE station in Wewak, East Sepik may have to close its pumps following the announcement by Puma Energy last week that it had stopped supplying unleaded petrol and zoom.
Kevin Isifu, the operator of the Puma Energy service station at Kaltex, yesterday confirmed with The National that they would have to stop serving customers.
“We will be selling our last stock of fuel today (yesterday) and close the pumps,” Isifu said.
“There is an operational issue with Puma and once sorted out, they will release the fuel from their terminals again.”
However, Lae Chamber of Commerce Inc. president Alan McLay said the decision by Puma could ultimately affect petrol users.
“You will find that most business operated vehicles run on diesel fuel. So I haven’t had any queries on the Puma decision to stop sale of unleaded fuel,” McLay said.
“I suppose that this will ultimately affect the sale of petrol run vehicles in the country. Therefore we who use petrol cars will just have to wait and see if petrol will still be available through other outlets or not.”
Puma Energy last Wednesday issued a statement saying it had stopped the sale of unleaded petrol and zoom from all its facilities due to operational requirements.
Company country manager Jim Collings told The National: “Puma Energy is committed to long-term supply security of quality products for PNG . From time to time, we have operational requirements that help us ensure we deliver on these elements.
“At this stage, we cannot provide a specific time frame (for the resumption of supply) but we will make certain that supply resumes at the earliest possible time and will advise customers accordingly.
“Puma Energy apologises for any inconvenience caused to our customers.”