Emarat runs out of petrol - burn me!

So it's been a while since I wrote, and that's because of a noticeable lack of interest in the topics gracing our lives. So please excuse my absence. However, yesterday (15/9/2010) a few weird things happened that demand to be mentioned.

First of all, my car needed to be filled with petrol so badly, the fuel indicator dipped below the zero indicator. So when I finished from my teeth-grinding boring meetings I pulled into Enoc (one of the 4 petrol providers in UAE) to fill up with regular gasoline (Special grade 95 RON Octane). The attendant told me that they are running dry and they have only Super 98 and Diesel. So I requested a full tank of Super 98 (which I believe is superior on long distance journeys). Before I could say "twitter" the tank was filled up because motorists refused to pay more to fill up with better quality petrol. Typical.

The attendant told me that they have problems with supplying fuel. Thanks ENOC.

Today I read in the papers that Emarat (another one of the basteurd petrol sellers) have run out of petrol due to technical problems with the supply chain, and they also mention financial problems with loans etc that won't be fixed until they can charge market prices and drop the state-sponsored price-system.

Read more here:

http://gulfnews.com/business/oil-gas/emarat-running-out-of-petrol-1.682789

"Emarat is finding it difficult to get bank loans to enable it continue to sell petrol below cost, so it's trying to ration the limited quantity of gasoline it has. The company is incurring a daily loss of about Dh2 million due to the subsidy on the fuel and compensation from other businesses such as convenience stores isn't enough to cover the losses," an Emarat source told Gulf News. "This problem will continue until the government frees petrol prices," he added.

DAMN YOU "Emarat source"!!!!!!

http://www.emirates247.com/news/emirates/fuel-supply-shortage-in-emarat-petrol-stations-2010-09-16-1.291413

The Emarat petrol distribution company announced that some of its 200 stations in Dubai and Northern Emirates are facing supply shortage of fuel (special Benzene). The company spokesperson told Al Bayan that “the shortage is due to technical issues related to the process of unloading cargo from ships to tanks in Jebel Ali". Khalid Hadi, Director of Information and Marketing of Enoc said, "All fuel stations of Enoc and Epco is functioning normally and is able to provide various types of fuel without any problems."

Not only dues Emirates 24-7 above show an ENOC picture when they are talking about Emarat problems, but they mention a very interesting point made by Mr Khalid Hadi, Director of Information (you can direct fictional movies, but can you direct information?!) that Enoc is not having "any problems".

OK. Sir.

What about the Enoc station site 1088, terminal ID 00108803, on Oud Metha Road that was empty of cars yesterday because you couldn't supply petrol to it cheap enough that people will buy it?

Also are we dumb enough to believe that in a country that can build the tallest building in the world, and the widest motorways, and the best airline that you cannot deliver fuel? Don't take us for stupid people please. It's like when Bush and Bliar (sic) convinced us that our security was threatened by Iraq and we HAD to invade and kill the innocent to protect the innocent.

Yeah right.

Also, ironic that the shortage came exactly 2 years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers (my screen shot of the bbc webpage from 2008 is attached).



However, seems not only the UAE is suffering from greed and stupidity. Pakistan, the only Muslim nuclear power is unable to supply its citizens with machine-readable passports in the UAE because they are only printed in Pakistan.

Please, please, when will the stupidity end?!

Salam

To all the petrol heads out there..

... here's a present for me to you!

It takes a while to load in the UAE considering some cable near Malta is twisted...



Might be better to view the video directly from the original site (by double-clicking anywhere on the video, except the play button).

Enjoy!

Expensive petrol is cheaper for you

Surely if you're in the UAE, you've been following the petrol price hike here, due this Wednesday of 0.15 Dhs/litre. Personally I think the stupid and inefficient Sharjah toll on trucks at 100 Dhs a go is worse and will affect us more, but that is another matter, especially since increasing taxes during a recession is about the dumbest thing that you can do.

Anyway, so here's how you can save money by buying more expensive petrol.

First of all, in the UAE you have two types of petrol: 95 Octane and 98 Octane.. different companies call them different things, e.g. Eppco/Enoc calls 95 = Special, and 98 = Super.

Octane rating is how much heat you'll get when you burn a unit of fuel, so the higher the number the more efficient the fuel is.
Just to get an idea, back in the days, fuel was at 80 octane, and in most countries 90 or 91 octane is normal. However you can get up to 99 or 100 octane apparently.


So, back to the UAE, a full tank of 95 or 98 weighs exactly the same (as far as your car is concerned), however if we go with my car for example, a full tank of 95 costs about 110 Dhs and 98 at 130 Dhs. However, the more expensive petrol can take you about 25% farther on the same tank than the cheaper one.

This is amazing because it means that you waste less time during your short life to stop and fill up for petrol. You also burn fuel more efficiently. You're also saving the environment by making your engine live longer because it's a more efficient fuel and will limit wear more.

The funny thing is that these bastard petrol companies are smart, they do not say that they are increasing the price by a percentage, but instead they increase it by a fixed amount, which is 0.15DHS FOR BOTH GRADES, which means as a percentage the price hike hurts less when you buy the expensive 98. Hence another reason why you should only buy 98.

Here's my tip on how you can save money by spending more money, however the biggest saving for me is time, coz I hate to wait at petrol stations for my tank to fill up.