The 63-year old Doha Petrol Station (DPS) in Msheireb will be closed starting April 13, according to announcements published in local newspapers.

But a visit to the station yesterday morning found the premises barricaded, preventing vehicles from refilling at the station’s 16 dispensers. It was however revealed in the evening that the station would resume operations on Tuesday and would close down only on Wednesday as announced.

The closure announcement also requested coupon holders to visit the DPS office (opposite to Al Jaidah tower and a few blocks from the National Human Rights Committee building) to claim refunds within two weeks.

Known as the first petrol station in the country, a source told Gulf Times that the DPS has been serving about 6,000 vehicles a day during its round-the-clock operation.

An automated teller machine at the petrol station was removed by bank personnel recently, a source said.

Many motorists passing by the area seemed to be clueless on DPS’ closure as they tried to enter the station yesterday to make refills.

“I was actually thinking of refilling at this petrol station but I was not aware it is closed now,” said an Asian expatriate who was trying to look for a parking slot.

Another motorist disclosed that a privately-owned petrol station in Lusail city was closed recently. However, it resumed operations after some time due to the huge number of vehicles which had difficulty looking for alternative refilling stations.

“Now, drivers like me who want to avoid long queues at petrol stations have to do it either before 6am or late in the evening,” he said. “Otherwise, the waiting time will be longer.”

It is also being observed that the long queues of motorists now a days extend up to the road outside the petrol station, blocking the flow of traffic. The Doha Petrol Centre on the C Ring Road was also closed down last week, leading to long lines at almost all the Woqod stations. Motorists have complained of wasting precious time, waiting for their turn at petrol stations.

Some motorists have also complained of petrol stations’ failure to speed up refilling due to the lack of enough personnel to man each dispenser and lanes.

A motorist said in some cases there is only one attendant for every four dispensers, and in some cases some lanes are left unattended which slows down the refilling of vehicles.