Vic; Diesel flows but not enough for farmers

AAP General News (Australia)
12-08-2001
Vic; Diesel flows but not enough for farmers

Diesel production at Mobil's Melbourne refinery has been stepped up but service station
operators remain angry at fuel shortages around Victoria.

Supplies of petrol and especially diesel have been choked by a series of problems at
refineries from Brisbane to Adelaide in recent months.

Maintenance programs running over schedule, a lightning strike, huge seas and a kerosene
spill this week have all combined to disrupt supplies.

The disruption has especially affected country Victoria, where service stations are
running out of diesel at a time of peak demand for grain harvesting and hay-making.

The Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce is unimpressed and says regional areas
are in diabolical trouble.

Executive director DAVID PURCHASE says he has heard reports of farmers begging service
stations for fuel and has called on the federal and state governments to step in.

AAP RTV ra/gfr/aa/wz

KEYWORD: REFINERIES VIC (MELBOURNE)

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