Peak Oil is You
Donate Bitcoins ;-) or Paypal :-)
Page added on November 23, 2007
China’s fuel-supply crisis
More oil needs pouring as tensions mount at petrol pumps
Efforts to cushion China’s citizens from rising oil prices are in disarray. Low government-controlled prices have led to a fuel-supply crisis in many parts of the country. Rationing, long queues, bad tempers and violence have become commonplace at filling stations. Fears of higher inflation are preventing a cure.
Things were supposed to improve after November 1st, when, for the first time in 17 months, the government allowed an increase (of around 10%) in the retail prices of petrol, diesel and kerosene. This was aimed at encouraging state-owned oil firms, whose profits have been threatened by the gap between high crude prices and prices at the pump, to refine more oil and boost supply to consumers. But it has not been enough. This week widespread shortages, which plagued the country two years ago and again in October, have re-emerged (if they ever truly abated).
The state-controlled press, which usually plays down crises, has hinted at the scale of the problem. On November 19th in Anhui province in central China, a lorry driver reportedly stabbed another driver to death in a fight to get to the head of a queue for diesel. Three days earlier, in neighbouring Hubei, a fuel shortage forced public buses to halt, affecting 100,000 commuters. Also this month, rioting erupted at a petrol station in the coastal city of Ningbo. Many places have deployed the police to keep order at pumps.
Leave a Reply