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CCNTV6
  • 2 years ago
Two days after TV6 News brought you the investigative story, Shortchanged- regarding allegations raised by gas station dealers involving Unipet. Unipet has finally broken its silence on the matter- after first refusing to respond to this station's questions during our month-long investigation.

Senior Multimedia Investigative Journalist and Producer Mark Bassant has the latest.
Transcript
00:00 In a press release sent out by Unipet following TV6's investigation, short-changed, Unipet
00:06 assured its membership and all gas station dealers, "that it is not invoicing them for
00:12 higher volumes of fuel than what it provides to them, and that they are getting superior
00:16 quality and quantity for what they pay for."
00:20 While giving this assurance, Unipet did not provide any documentation to support this.
00:25 Speaking to matters raised during our investigation in terms of the disparity of volumes delivered
00:29 to gas station dealers, Unipet stated, "The volume of the fuel delivered is measured and
00:35 recorded by an automatic tank gauge known as the VitaRoot system that can measure volume
00:40 and temperature at delivery."
00:44 Unipet contended that the VitaRoot system, which measures temperature and volume, was
00:48 an improvement over traditional manual tank dips.
00:51 However, at no point in its news release does Unipet indicate what it has been using to
00:56 measure the fuel that it trucks to gas stations.
00:59 Several dealers who were contacted following the news release said the VitaRoot system
01:03 is installed by the dealer-retailer to verify volumes being delivered by the road tanker
01:08 wagons to the dealer's stations.
01:10 They added that the VitaRoot system is installed at the dealer's expense and not Unipet's,
01:16 and they are still in the dark as to how Unipet measures the fuel in the truck when it is
01:20 obtained from Paria.
01:21 TV6 News had also raised the issue of lack of calibration on these road tanker wagons
01:26 that Unipet used to transport fuel, which the Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards
01:31 had indicated in correspondence to a dealer that it was yet to establish a proper calibration
01:36 system for road tanker wagons.
01:39 Unipet did say that it supports the TTBS dispenser and calibration and verification exercise,
01:45 which gas station leaders say is yet to come on stream.
01:48 In addressing allegations of inflated invoices by dealers and the possibility raised by one
01:52 of the dealers that Unipet was possibly calculating the fuel based on a higher temperature of
01:57 27 degrees rather than the standard accounting temperature of 15 degrees, Unipet didn't seem
02:03 to deny this, stating, "In some cases where the relevant contract so provides, the volumetric
02:09 measurements of fuel delivered and therefore invoiced are based on the ambient temperature
02:14 of the fuel at the time of delivery, which is subject to variations depending on the
02:18 day and the time of delivery and the existing and prior storage conditions of the fuel.
02:24 There have been greater variations when the fuel tanks are overground as compared to underground."
02:31 Unipet then makes a case for another scenario involving the possible changes in volume and
02:35 the invoice dealers receive, stating, "In other cases where the relevant contract so
02:41 provides the quantity of the fuel delivered and invoiced is not determined based on the
02:45 ambient temperature of the fuel at the time of the delivery, rather standardization purposes,
02:51 the fuel is deemed to be at a standard temperature referred to as the SDA."
02:57 Several dealers argue that Unipet's response to this question does not allow them in any
03:01 way to alter the volume given by pirated dealers or change the price as they argue this is
03:07 regulated by the government and only the government in this case, the Ministry of Energy, can
03:12 change the price.
03:14 In addressing claims and compensation, Unipet indicated that it had implemented a tolerance
03:18 level allowance of plus or minus 0.5% of the volume invoiced to account for the natural
03:25 and unexpected variances due to the contraction and expansion of fuel when delivered to gas
03:31 station dealers.
03:32 Unipet explained that any loss in volume greater than 0.5% is absorbed by Unipet through a
03:39 claim process and the gas station dealers historically keep any positive variances.
03:44 Unipet said this was done to ensure that gas station dealers are compensated for any differences
03:49 between what is invoiced for delivery to them and what was delivered as measured by the
03:53 VidaRoute system.
03:55 But several dealers pointed out to TV6 News that the 0.5 tolerance level allowance Unipet
04:00 speaks of is allegedly misguiding the public as it is unrelated to the transportation of
04:05 fuel between the parrier and the gas stations.
04:08 The dealers indicated that the 0.5% indicated in the press release had nothing to do with
04:13 the STA.
04:14 Rather, they explained that the 0.5% allowance is a best practice adopted by the Bureau of
04:20 Standards where there's allowance of 100 milliliters for every 20,000 milliliters when the TTBS
04:26 verifies the fuel pumps at gas stations every six months, a verification several dealers
04:32 pointed out that occurs at gas station fuel pumps by the TTBS and at the dealer's cost,
04:37 not Unipet's.
04:38 Unipet also indicated that it is within their right to keep in its custody the customs document
04:44 that gas station dealers indicated should be rightfully handed over to them upon the
04:49 delivery of fuel.
04:51 Several of the dealers said it was not customary for the fuel dealer, in this case Unipet,
04:55 to withhold the customs document, still maintaining that it rightfully belonged to them, the dealers.
05:01 They also maintained their allegation that Unipet breached the Meteorology Act by doing
05:06 such.
05:07 Marc Besant, TV6 News.
05:10 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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