China faces unprecedented petrol and diesel price surge in backdrop of power crisis

As the energy and gas prices witness an “off the charts spike” worldwide, including UK and Europe, China is facing unprecedented diesel and petrol price inflation due to the ongoing upwards international oil price surge, according to local press reports. Posts on Chinese Twitter-like social media site Weibo on Saturday stated that the lorry drivers countrywide had to wait in long backlogs at the pumps to buy the fuel amid acute shortage. China’s latest fuel price hike woes have mounted in the backdrop of the country’s dire and massive power crunch that has left households with unforeseen power shredding, and factories shut.

"The current diesel shortages seem to be affecting long distance transportation businesses which could include goods meant for markets outside of China," Mattie Bekink, China Director at the Economist Intelligence Unit has told British Broadcasrting Corp. 

An angry truck driver who waited an entire day to refill diesel who spoke with reporters of Caixin Global, as he revealed that in China, Diesel-powered vehicles “can hardly get enough fuel as prices rise.” The truck dealer in Shijiazhuang, a northern city in Hebei province went on to add, “Local gas stations are limiting diesel sales to 100 liters per truck, filling only 10% of the diesel tank for most trucks.” 

'Sorry out of use' signposts widespread at pumps in many Chinese provinces 

Reports suggest that across the People’s Republic of China, signposts saying “Sorry out of use” have turned more common at the petrol bunks reflecting the dire fuel crisis situation faced by the United Kingdom in the past few weeks. As the energy prices skyrocketed, the costs for natural gas and diesel shattered records, like that of Europe and the United States that have been struggling to meet the energy supply demands. Energy shortages have unfolded as the world steered on the course of the post lockdown COVID-19 recovery.

As the fuel demands that plummeted during the initial months of the pandemic declaration soared back up, much of the world is now facing sky-high prices as winter approaches. OPEC+ (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries), with their allies including Russia since the past month has been under immense pressure from top consumers including India and the United States, who pushed the agency to increase  production as oil prices surged past 50% this year, 2021.

In China’s Hebei Province, one of the epicenters of the novel coronavirus earlier last year, several gas stations went dry for the past week. Over the past few days, the pumps have been able to cater to just limited amount of diesel delivery to its consumers due to starkly glaring dearth of fuel ." Each customer could only buy a fixed amount because there isn't enough at the moment," an employee from a gas station in Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei, told the state-run newspaper, Global Times.