Fuel consumers and the travelling public throughout the country should see refined fuel back in stock at all Puma service stations this week onwards, after the government intervened with a temporary directive to enable Puma Energy to access foreign currency and financial services to purchase new supplies.
Puma Energy Managing Director and Chairman, Mr. Hulala Tokome, gave the assurance as well when speaking to PNG HAUSBUNG today in Port Moresby city.
Mr. Tokome, who was doing site visits to all the Puma service stations this morning to see how things were going, said it’s actually good to see more people coming in with their vehicles to refuel without having to face fuel rationing at Puma service stations.
“We’ve got our cartage carriers basically working around the clock to actually replenish. We’ve got the refinery open today, which is supplying as much as we can to the market, not only here (Port Moresby), but also throughout the country,” said Mr. Tokome.
Mr. Tokome also stressed that Puma Energy doesn’t want to go through this situation again, where fuel supply becomes short because they are put in the same situation again where they are unable to purchase crude oil and access financial services.
“We’re thankful for PM, DPM and the Treasurer in terms of intervening, but then, at the same time we don’t want to be keep on going through this every time,” he added.
“So, at the end of the day, for us is resolving this particular issue and its more merely to do with documentation issues and all that. Fine, let’s resolve them, let’s move on.”
The Managing Director said what’s important here is for Puma Energy is to maintain the undisrupted supply of fuel to keep the country’s economy running.
“At the end of the day we’re here to do our business and maintain supply security in the country,” he said.
“Obviously, fuel is an important element in the economy and that’s the whole reason why we continue to maintain that.”