Recorded at about 6:30 pm on March 4, at Cau Giay gas station on Duong Dinh Nghe street (Hanoi), the number of vehicles coming to refuel was somewhat busier than usual. The line of people and motorbikes lined up from the pumping area to the edge of the road.
According to observations, people lined up in 4 rows, each row about 15–20 motorbikes, mainly motorcyclists taking advantage of stopping to refuel after work hours. Store staff worked continuously, almost no time to rest.
Many people said they had to wait about 20-30 minutes for their turn. Meanwhile, many people who saw the line was too long decided to turn around and leave to find another gas station or wait for a quieter time.
Mr. Tuan Anh (27 years old, Cau Giay, Hanoi) said that although the gas tank is not empty, he still decided to stop by to fill it up early because he is worried that the price may increase in the next few days.
I still have gasoline to travel, but if the tense situation in the Middle East lasts, it is likely that domestic gasoline prices will increase further. Fill up the tank early to be proactive, to avoid regretting when prices rise tomorrow. The number of people filling up gasoline compared to normal may be related to information predicting that domestic gasoline prices will increase in tomorrow's price adjustment period due to the impact of the tense situation in the Middle East" - Mr. Tuan Anh shared.
Meanwhile, Mr. Do Cong Thanh (born in 1998, living in Hanoi) said that he arrived at the store at 6:35 pm and it was not until 7:00 pm that he could refuel. "On normal days, the waiting time is only about 10-15 minutes. The number of people coming to refuel today is much larger, so the queue is longer than usual" - Mr. Thanh said.
According to Mr. Tung Anh - a technology motorbike taxi driver (born in 1991, Me Linh, Hanoi), it took him nearly half an hour to complete refueling. According to Mr. Tung Anh, the situation of crowded customers at the end of the day is quite common at many gas stations in Hanoi. This is the peak hour when people take advantage of refueling after work to prepare for the next day's travel.
Regarding the information predicting that gasoline prices may increase due to the impact of the Middle East situation, Mr. Tung Anh said that he had heard about it but did not follow it closely. "If it increases by another 2,000–3,000 VND/liter, travel costs will definitely increase, and my income will also be somewhat affected" - Mr. Tung Anh shared.
Not far away, at Mipec gas station on Pham Hung street (Hanoi), the number of people coming to refuel is also crowded, lined up in 2-3 long rows.
Many people believe that, in addition to the information that gasoline prices may increase, this is also the peak hour at the end of the day when workers finish their shifts and students finish school, so the demand for refueling is already high. The psychology of "flooding first to feel secure" further increases the number of customers flocking at the same time.
The Machine Learning-applied gasoline and oil price forecasting model of the Vietnam Petroleum Institute (VPI) shows that in the operating period on March 5, retail gasoline and oil prices may increase from 6.1 - 6.7% compared to the previous operating period, if the Inter-Ministry of Finance - Industry and Trade does not allocate or use the gasoline and oil price stabilization fund.
According to a representative of a gasoline and oil business, domestic gasoline and oil prices will fluctuate according to the world gasoline and oil situation. According to current market developments, it is predicted that in the next price adjustment period, retail gasoline and oil prices may increase sharply.
In which the forecast: RON 95-III gasoline increased by about 1,970 VND/liter; E5 RON 92 gasoline increased by about 1,780 VND/liter; diesel oil increased by about 3,220 VND/liter.
