Azernews.Az

Uzbekistan will increase imports of crude oil for processing at its refineries to meet the needs of the domestic market in gasoline and eliminate queues at gas stations, JSC Uznefteproduct's press service said on November 13.

Uznefteproduct is included in the Uzbekneftegaz National Holding Company (NHC).

"Uznefteproduct is taking strong measures to increase gasoline production at the refinery in order to stabilize the situation, including the importation of additional volumes of hydrocarbons," the message said.

It is expected that the bulk of the oil will be imported from Turkmenistan. The report did not indicate the amount of the oil planned to be purchased.

Lines at filling stations in Uzbekistan have become common and the reasons for this are not under the control of Uznefteproduct.

According to the press service of the JSC Uznefteproduct these factors include the false rumors about increasing gasoline prices and the expected absence of gasoline in December 2013.

Car owners are trying to lay in a supply of additional volumes of gasoline, which causes panic and excessive demand for fuel. Another factor is the annual increase of the number of vehicles in the country.

Lack of gasoline in Uzbekistan has been observed for a few years, but this year the deficit showed itself acutely.

Car owners wait for hours in long lines or throughout the night to fill their cars.

It was reported that this year the Uzbek government permitted UzGasOil to process oil meant for import at the local oil refineries on a take-back basis. This was done in order to increase the supply of motor car fuel in the domestic market. UzGasOil owns the largest network of filling stations.

The government allowed a portion of the product - gasoline and diesel - to be sold in the domestic market at commercial prices that are 1.5 to 2 times higher than state prices. However, this did not solve the problem.