Filling stations told to sell petrol at fixed prices

By DMG 07 Jul 2022

DMG Newsroom
7 July 2022, Sittwe

The junta-controlled committee supervising import, storage and distribution of fuel in Myanmar on Thursday instructed filling stations to sell at fixed prices, and also threatened legal action against those that fail to do so.

On Thursday, filling stations in Yangon were instructed to bring down their prices to K1,835 per litre for 92 Ron; K1,955 for 95 Ron; and around K2,200 for high speed diesel (HSD).

In Myanmar’s second largest city Mandalay also, filling stations were instructed to sell at similarly fixed prices.

In other regions and states, filling stations were told to bring down their per-litre prices by around K200 on average.

The committee said filling stations must sell according to fixed prices issued daily by the committee, adding that consumers can file complaints if filling stations sell at prices higher than authorised.

“If filling stations do not sell according to our prices, action will be taken under the Petroleum and Petroleum Products Law and other existing laws,” said a committee official.

Fuel price regulation of such a sudden nature would be loss-making for suppliers who are dealing in global markets, according to U Than Hlaing, chairman of the Arakan State Fuel Suppliers Association.

“Our order for fuel a few days ago has not yet arrived in Arakan State. If we are to sell at today’s prices, there is a gap of K100 per litre, so local suppliers will make a loss,” he said.

A drop in fuel prices is good news for auto-rickshaw drivers, however, according to driver Ko Thar Yay.

“Though prices have only decreased by K100 to K200, it is not bad for us. But it is not convenient that we have to queue to buy fuel,” he said.

Amid a volatile global oil market, petrol stations in the Arakan State capital Sittwe and elsewhere ran short of stocks last month, with long queues forming at filling stations as drivers flocked to fill up their cars and motorbikes.