HanoiLooking at hundreds of people queuing at a gas station on Tam Trinh Street (Hoang Mai District), Hong Hanh sighed and ran to find another place even though it was more than 12 o’clock at night, on November 10.
Hanh’s next destination is a gas station on Lac Trung Street (Hai Ba Trung District), the situation is not much better when only two pumps are operating, many people lament that they have been waiting for an hour and still have not had their turn. The 27-year-old girl continued to run to the gas station on Vo Thi Sau street (Hai Ba Trung district) but this place was temporarily closed.
“When the car showed signs of slowing down because it ran out of gas, I was really worried, afraid to walk in the middle of the night,” she said. Hanh decided to choose 12 o’clock at night to go to the gas station because he thought there would be few people at this time, but the opposite was true.
At nearly 1 o’clock at night, she reached the gas station on Tran Quang Khai street (Hoan Kiem district), where all 4 pump posts are operating. The number of people queuing is large, but Hanh waits for 5-10 minutes for her turn and there is no limit to the number of liters of gasoline purchased.
People are waiting to fill up petrol at a store on Xuan Thuy street (Cau Giay district), at 11:40 at night 10/11. Image: Quynh Nguyen
Near 12 o’clock at night, Mr. Nguyen Binh, 30 years old, a motorbike taxi driver is waiting in line for petrol on Xuan Thuy street, Cau Giay district. Before that, he went through 5 gas stations from Ha Dong to Cau Giay but everywhere was crowded with people.
These days, Mr. Binh chooses midnight and dawn to buy petrol, hoping not to have to wait in line for too long. But there are many people who think the same way as him, so the waiting queue in the middle of the night is as crowded as during the day.
“The day before, after 11 o’clock at night, the gas stations were empty, it took me a few minutes to fill up the tank, and the fastest time every day had to wait 15 minutes. Anyway, queuing at night is less tiring, avoiding the hot sun and not affect work performance,” said the male driver.
Reporter’s note VnExpress From midnight to dawn on 11/11, stores of Vietnam National Petroleum Group (Petrolimex) on Tay Son, Lang (Dong Da district), Nguyen Trai (Thanh Xuan district), Hoang Quoc Viet , Nguyen Phong Sac, Xuan Thuy (Cau Giay district), Tran Quang Khai (Hoan Kiem district), Hang Bun (Ba Dinh district), Tam Trinh (Hoang Mai district) were all lined up. Most of the trees only open two pumps for motorbikes and two for cars.
Many people said that they had waited an hour for their turn. After 1am, the number of people coming to the gas station decreased but still waited for 5-10 minutes on average.
The situation of gas stations running out of stock, running out of petrol or oil in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and some localities has lasted for the past few weeks. Petrol retail businesses reflect that the discount (the level that the wholesaler cuts back to traders and resellers) is still very low, and the import of goods from wholesalers is difficult and trickling.
In Hanoi, two days before the time of price adjustment, some gas stations hung the sign “out of gas, still have oil”; Others limit the amount of sales from 30,000 – 50,000 VND with each pour for motorbikes, even some gas stations refuse to sell cars for the reason that “goods are imported less”.
An announcement on November 8 from Petrolimex said that the company’s 96 retail stores began to open for sale 24/24 until the end of November 13, in order to serve consumers in Hanoi, when the situation appeared in the past few days. The situation of people flocking to stores to buy fuel increased dramatically.
A petrol salesman on Tran Quang Khai street said that the number of visitors to fill up petrol has increased sharply in the past two weeks. “In the past, there were almost no customers after 12 o’clock at night, now we have to work through the night, 1-2 am still crowded with buyers and only a little less empty in the morning,” he said.
Share with VnExpress On November 2, Dr. Ho Quoc Thong, Faculty of Economics, University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City said: “The situation of prolonged waiting at gas stations and distribution of quotas causes loss of time, money and heavy impacts. Many people are affected by their income and quality of life… just because they wait for their turn to fill up, or even wait, but they can’t.”
People wait to fill up petrol on Tay Son Street, early morning 11/11. Image: Quynh Nguyen
Mr. Lam Dung, on Tran Dang Ninh street (Cau Giay district) is an example. Taking advantage of buying gas at midnight due to busy work, after work to pick up his children, but the 40-year-old man still had to return to zero because he waited for more than an hour and still had not been his turn.
“After 10 pm, I went to the gas station near my house on Nguyen Phong Sac Street because I thought it would be empty, but I saw two lines of motorbikes up to 50 meters long waiting, spilling onto the street, so I had to return. At 11:30 at night I went out the second time. , the number of people has decreased, but there are dozens of cars waiting in front, if it’s your turn, it will take an hour.
Before that, he used to go to 3-4 other gas stations near his house but they were all crowded or temporarily closed.
Tired of waiting, Mr. Dung said he would be back at 5am. “It’s the last time frame I hope will be empty. If it’s still crowded, I have to order a technology car to go to work, but there is no way,” the 40-year-old man sighed.
In addition to choosing to fill up at dawn because you don’t want to wait in line, buy gasoline spontaneously and sell it at a high price, Thanh Tam, 29 years old, in Cau Giay district, has surveyed the situation of fueling at stores on social networks and through friends. “I would avoid all the locations with a winter warning and prioritize trees that are open 24/7 near my house,” she said.
But Tam did not expect that even the gas stations that were not on the list had to wait in line, still waiting for 15 minutes before their turn to fill. “It seems that the gas stations are full of people regardless of day and night. I hope the long series of days of waiting for gas will end soon,” the 29-year-old girl said.
As for Hong Hanh, if the situation of waiting in line for gas is long, she will consider buying an electric car to go to work. “Anyway, electric cars can be charged at home, convenient to move and save me time,” Hanh said.
Quynh Nguyen
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