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The delayed delivery of ethanol might have caused the petrol shortage
in Addis Abeba during most of last week, although
power failures shared the blame at some places.
Most stations had long lines of vehicles eager to fuel, and some
reported waiting in line for over one hour at those
places that were still able to sell petrol. Such
prolonged lines were seen on Africa Avenue (Bole
Road), at the Total and OiLibya stations near Mega
Building, NOC filling stations near Haya Hulet
Mazoria on Equatorial Guinea Street, and at the
Total Station at Mexico Square, where drivers
reported very lengthy waits.
The week saw hundreds of desperate car owners and drivers making a tour
of filling stations in hopes of getting their
petrol. Those asked did not have any idea why there
was a shortage.
Workers at the Total Ethiopia station on Africa Avenue and NOC station
at Haya Hulet Mazoria said the problem was electric
power failure. An official at NOC denied knowledge
of the cause of the shortage. However, both power
failure and shortage of supply were the problems
that caused the long lines and the dry supplies,
according to an employee at the OiLibya station on
Africa Avenue.
The week was, however, marked by the long delay in the delivery of
ethanol from Fincha Sugar Factory, according to
Tsegaye Gebremichael, at the Public Relations Office
of the Ethiopian Petroleum Enterprise. The trucks
carrying the ethanol were expected to arrive on
Monday morning but arrived on Thursday at the Nile
Petroleum facilities, where the blending with petrol
was to take place. He did not know what had caused
the delay, he said.
There was no problem with the supply of the Ethanol, and it was
supplied on the date due, Derege Gutema, Fincha
Sugar Factory manager, said.
Though the origin of the problem has not been confirmed, with everybody
pointing a finger at someone else, the public was
left empty handed, making only desperate moves to
get a refill or at least a decent explanation.
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