Failure by some players to conform to international standards is killing fuel business, says Vivo Energy

Vivo Energy Uganda, the company that distributes and markets Shell-branded fuels and lubricants has said failure by some players to conform to international standards is greatly affecting the fuel business in the country.

Speaking during a media breakfast meeting at Serena hotel in Kampala on Thursday, Gilbert Assi, the Vivo Energy Uganda Managing Director said there is need to enforce international standards among all players in the country.

“The market has many players but many of them don’t abide by the local and international standards. We would wish that all players conform to the standards,”Assi said.

“There are basic standards that need to cut across for every player if we are to develop the industry and serve our customers well. These should be followed by everyone.”

Government has for long tried to end the issue of fuel adulteration by releasing a list of stations selling adulterated fuel around the country and these are mainly run by local companies.

Uganda National Bureau of Standards recently revealed that fuel adulteration had dropped to one percent.

According to Paul Haulsen, the Vivo Energy Executive Vice president for East and Southern Africa said the company has in the past done everything possible to ensure the fuels they give to customers through Shell conform to all the standards.

“We start the quality journey right from Mombasa at our laboratory before fuel is stored in tanks. Before the fuel is loaded onto trucks for transport, it is again checked at the laboratory and here we keep a sample of the checked product as a follow up in case of any problem,” Haulsen said.

“Fuel is again checked before being taken to the different stations but even at the stations, our mobile laboratory does random checks for quality of fuel.”

According to the Vivo Energy officials, on top of the self –regulation measures, UNBS also does impromptu check at their fuel stations, all meant to enforce standards.

“We want to ensure that when you buy fuel at our stations, it is not mixed with any other thing and in case anything happens to the fuel, our modus operandi is that we close down the station as investigations kick-off,” Haulsen said.