Doha • An unexpected demand for diesel triggered by an exploding vehicle population has prompted oil exporting Qatar to import the fuel to meet local consumption.

Qatar Petroleum (QP), in fact, began importing diesel in June last year and the recent shortage was caused by a sudden import of 3,500 trucks last month, senior officials of Qatar Fuel (Woqod), sole distributors of petroleum products locally, said.

The vehicle population in the country rose considerably last year to around 500,000, some half the number of them using diesel, Woqod’s Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Mohamed Khalifa Turki Alsobai, told a news conference here yesterday.

There was a tremendous strain on Woqod’s supplies as some 84,000 vehicles were imported last year as compared to 26,000 in 2005 and 18,000 in 2004. Half the number of the 84,000 automobiles were heavy vehicles which ran on diesel, stated Alsobai.

“Already our supplies were at full capacity and the sudden import of 3,500 trucks last month led to a crisis,” he pointed out.

There is only one multi-product pipeline which supplies petroleum products from the refinery in Messaieed to Woqod’s depot in Doha and it has been operating at full capacity. There was a shortage of ‘Super’ petrol for a day or two as more diesel was channeled from the Mesaieed refinery to Woqod’s depot to meet the shortfall.

A new pipeline with larger capacity is under construction and is expected to be ready by next year. By then, the upcoming refinery in Ras Laffan would also be operational, Alsobai said.

There is no shortage of diesel now as Woqod has set up three distribution centres to provide additional supplies to filling stations across the country. The centre in Doha will take care of supplies in the city as well as the suburbs while the one in Messaieed and Ras Laffan will be catering to those and surrounding areas.

The distribution facility in Doha is already operational, while those in Mesaieed and Ras Laffan will begin supplies shortly. These will augment supplies by about 50 per cent.

The three supply centres will take care of growing demand for the next two years and by that time the new pipeline and the new refinery in Ras Laffan will be ready, Alsobai said. QP is paying between $75 and $80 per barrel for the imports but is making the diesel available to petrol stations at a subsidised rate of $30 per barrel for retail sale as also for local companies.

Foreign companies are being provided the fuel at international rates, disclosed Alsobai. Also present at the briefing was Nasser Ibrahim Fakhroo, Woqod’s operations director. Alsobai said that Woqod had not expected such a huge jump in demand for diesel before 2010. The company was, therefore, taken by surprise, he admitted.