CNG refuelling station to open on Yangon’s outskirts
Vehicles forbidden to enter Yangon will now be able to refuel on the outskirts, the energy ministry has decided. In a May 22 statement, the ministry announced plans to open a filling station about 35 kilometres (21 miles) north of the city at Htaukkyant for vehicles fuelled by natural gas.
More than 1 million cubic feet of gas has been set aside for Hilux and other minibuses and trucks, the ministry said.
The new CNG natural gas station will open for business on May 30.
U Minn Minn Oo, deputy director of local and foreign information for the Ministry of Energy, told the media, “This new station is especially for vehicles operating in the suburbs, primarily minibuses and Hiluxes in Bago, Hmawbi, Hlegu and Taikkyi.”
The station will be open 24 hours a day and will be capable of refuelling eight vehicles simultaneously, serving an estimated 800 vehicles.
The move is a response to complaints that CNG-powered vehicles could not refuel without entering Yangon, from which they were banned, said U Minn Minn Oo.
“CNG is already available in the city. We are meeting the request of vehicle owners outside Yangon. Hiluxes can’t enter Yangon because the Yangon City Development Committee and Ma Hta Tha [the Supervisory Committee for Motor Vehicles] don’t allow them to run in the city,” he said.
“Hmawbi-Yangon trucks can’t refuel in Yangon because they are not allowed to enter. We decided to locate the station at Htaukkyant,” U Minn Minn Oo added.
Htaukkyant is about 35 kilometres north of the city on the Yangon-Mandalay highway. The area is also the site of the World War II Allied cemetery and adjacent to Hlawiga national park.
The ministry started to convert petrol-, diesel- and LPG-fuelled engines to take natural gas last August to reduce petrol and diesel consumption, then very expensive.
A total of 26,849 natural gas vehicles, 15,585 petrol vehicles, 9078 diesel vehicles and 509 LPG-fuelled vehicles have been converted to natural gas use since 2014, and 1677 natural gas vehicles have been imported.
Natural gas is a preferred fuel for many of Myanmar’s drivers, as it is subsidised and generally cheaper than petrol.
However, unlike petrol, which is sold by private companies, the distribution and sale of CNG is still directly controlled by government companies.
