Motorists have raised concern over the limited number of petrol stations around Qatar, the situation being aggravated by a series of closures of privately-owned petrol stations and the reported shut down of another one next month.

In the last three years, at least six petrol stations were closed, including the 63-year old Doha Petrol Station, which ceased operations in April this year. The Arabian Gulf (Al Khalij Al Arabi) station on Al Rayyan Road, which is a stone’s throw away from the Al Mannai roundabout, will stop serving motorists next month, it is learnt.
A staff at Arabian Gulf told Gulf Times his co-employees were aware of the shutdown but noted that aside from the non-renewal of the station’s license, which is due to expire at the end of this month, details of the reported closure remains unclear to some of them.
Many motorists complained that a trip to most petrol stations around the Doha vicinity usually takes more than 20 minutes, “or sometimes longer.” But the installation of longer petrol pump hoses at Woqod was a recent development “welcomed” by many vehicle owners.
Regardless of the location of the vehicle’s petrol tank, motorists can now get fuel at any side of the petrol dispensing machines at Woqod, which started installing longer hoses on June 6 to cut down waiting time and speed up services.
Qatar Fuel (Woqod) CEO Ibrahim Jaham al-Kuwari said earlier that the initiative helps prevent vehicles from crowding along the highway and lessens traffic congestion, especially along main thoroughfares.
But many motorists pointed out that “more than just short petrol pump hoses, the lack of petrol stations along major roads and highways is the main reason for overcrowding of vehicles.”
Corey, an Asian expatriate, said the closure of other petrol stations only adds to the burden of many motorists, whose works schedules, according to him, “are mostly affected.”
“I think the closure of another petrol station will, again, add to the long queues at other stations and will extend towards the roads. After the Doha Petrol Station was closed, I had to wake up so early just to avoid the long queues because I will be wasting a lot of time if I will go there at 6pm or 7pm.
“I usually refill twice a week because of the nature of my job, which entails me to do a lot of fieldwork. We all know that more cars plying Qatar roads are increasing on a regular basis so if they close more petrol stations, what do you think will happen?” he complained.
Efren, a truck driver who regularly plies the roads of the Industrial Area, said he tries to refuel his vehicle before the truck ban. “Since it is Ramadan, the truck ban begins at 1pm. But I sometimes find it difficult complying with the ban because of the overcrowding of vehicles at our designated petrol station,” he said.
This was reiterated by Rodel, a school bus driver, who said he and his colleagues refuel their vehicles before fetching students. “If we refuel with passengers on board, we are required to ask all the students to get off the school bus during refueling for safety purposes.
“This does not only disrupt our schedules but it is an unnecessary inconvenience to the children, who may get sick if they get off the vehicle considering that temperatures this summer are very high,” he explained.