Adulterated Natural Gas causing mechanical problems

26 July 2022
Adulterated Natural Gas causing mechanical problems

Some buses and taxis in Yangon that run on compressed natural gas (CNG) broke down because they used unknowingly used adulterated gas bought from gas refuelling stations, on 22 July.

A taxi driver whose vehicle uses CNG said: "Some taxis and public buses are not running because they bought unpurified CNG. I think it was mixed with water and oil, I don't know why. As soon as cars left the CNG refuelling station after filling up with gas, they just stopped for no good reason. It's not good for car engines. As a result, some taxis and buses are no longer running and I have also stopped running my taxi for a while."

According to reports the Zawtika gas pipeline delivering gas from gas fields in the Gulf of Martaban (Gulf of Mottama) was ruptured on 22 July and buses and taxis had to wait for hours to fill up at gas refuelling stations in Yangon. Due to a lack of CNG some Yangon Bus Service (YBS) buses were not able to operate along their entire route.

Charity organisations that run emergency ambulance services in Yangon have been helping commuters affected by the bus shortages giving them rides to their destinations in their ambulances. According to commuters there has been no response from the Yangon Region Public Transportation Committee (YRTC) which is supposed to be responsible for running the public buses in the city.

There are 41 CNG refuelling stations in the Yangon Region, according Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) the junta controlled national oil and gas company.

Normally, about 2,600 to 2,700 buses operate daily in the Yangon Region.