Malaysia's service station dealers delay action

Malaysia’s Petroleum Dealers Association called off its move to close 24-hour petrol stations from 10 pm to 7 am. Acting Association President Abd Wahid Bidin said the dealers decided to put the action on hold as they were still discussing certain issues with the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs. Wahid said the ministry had informed them that it was conducting a customer/dealer survey. “The association conducted its survey on stations operating between 11 pm and 7 am daily. Our survey showed that the maximum amount of petrol a station sold during those hours was RM800 (US$237.36), of which profit was RM20 (US$5.93).” “Overhead costs to operate between those hours for a month is more than RM5,000 (US$1483.50 ) .” Wahid said they would wait for the proposal from the ministry before deciding what to do. (September 30, 2007)