VASCO
The contamination of a well and other water bodies with traces of fuel has affected Matvem-Dabolim, but its repercussions are being felt across the State.
There has been a “disturbance” in the network supply of fuel across all petrol pumps in the State, ever since the Zuari Indian Oil Adani Ventures Private Limited (ZIAVPL), formerly known as Zuari Indian Oiltanking Private Limited, was on November 22 directed to stop pumping of fuel from ships at the port to the oil tanks in Sancoale about 14 kms away till the leakage was located and sealed.
With pumping operations suspended for over two weeks, oil companies are unable to being in fuel from ships and they have been compelled to bring in petrol from tankers by road from Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Officials and petrol pump dealers have, however, assured that there is no fuel shortage in the State.
SOURCE OF FUEL
Goa gets its fuel supplies from refineries across different locations in India and the fuel arrives by ships (tankers) which dock at Mormugao Port.
"We have different kinds of cargo that come on one ship and sometimes one ship can carry two separate cargo of petrol and diesel as well. Sometimes we get one ship load of diesel and sometimes High speed Diesel and sometimes petrol,” said a source at Mormugao Port Authority (MPA)
“On an average each month, there could be as many as 6-7 ships that arrive with fuel products in the State. The fuel usually comes from refineries based in Mumbai, Mangalore and Sikka and the ships usually come in from ports like Mundra and Hazira. These ships are chartered by three major oil companies, HPCL, BPCL and IOCL, and the fuel is sent as per their requirements.”
The source said the ships once docked will discharge the cargo of fuel from the ship to the ZIOTL tanks through a 14-km pipeline.
“The ZIAVPL also has a booster pump which facilitates fast and effective pumping of cargo from the ship to the tanks at Sancoale. The last ship that brought in fuel to Goa had arrived in the port on November 22.”
““A Tanker Ship ‘Sanmar Sitar’ had arrived in the port on November 27 but it had to be diverted to another port because it could not be unloaded as the pipeline has been shut to locate the source of petroleum leakage,” the MPA source added.
FUEL STOCK
Denying any shortage of fuel due to shut pipeline, a senior official of ZIAVPL said their depot at Sancoale has sufficient stock of diesel, while petrol was being brought to the states from depots in neighbouring states.
"Oil companies are already making arrangements to bring in their fuel from neighbouring states by tankers and we also have sufficient stocks as of now in our depot. The IOCL, HPCL and BPCL are presently bringing its fuel in tankers from depots like Miraj, Desur and Belagavi in Maharashtra and Karnataka to our depot at Sancoale.”
“There are many tankers arriving at our depot on a daily basis because the billing and documentation has to be done from here by the oil companies, before they are supplied to petrol pumps across Goa. We get around 20-25 tankers every day, bringing in around 500 kilolitres of petrol since the last 5 days.”
Asked if this alternative transportation would lead to a hike in petrol/diesel prices, the official replied: “There will be no price rise in fuel because oil companies will absorb the rates of transportation of fuel to Goa. We have sufficient stock of diesel that could be enough for over a fortnight and only petrol is being brought from outside Goa," the official added.
