The military regime has banned supply of fuel to northern Shan, Kachin and Rakhine states and Sagaing Region, where it has lost large swathes of territory.
Filling stations and distributors were told in October not to distribute to areas controlled by ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) on pain of a three-month closure and suspension of fuel allocations, fuel importers said.
A fuel business owner in Yangon said: “Some stations that sold fuel to Kachin and northern Shan states were shut down last month, including OK Htoo and Winner filling stations.”
To cut U.S. dollar spending, the regime controls the quantity of fuel allowed for import, rationing filling stations.
The regime has now banned fuel supply to the whole of Rakhine State and northern Shan State, Kachin except the state capital Myitkyina, and 26 townships in Sagaing Region including the resistance strongholds of Tigyaing, Pale, Katha, Chaung-U, Kale, Salingyi, Ye-U, Budalin, Indaw, Yinmabin, Kantbalu, Tamu, Myaung, Khin-U, Depayain and Kawlin.
It has also banned the supply to Pauk Township in Magwe Region, and Mogoke and Myingyan townships in Mandalay Region in central Myanmar.
Filling stations and distributors are only allowed to carry specific amounts of fuel in designated oil bowsers and cannot use any other vehicles, the Yangon supplier explained.
They can transport fuel only to junta-approved locations and are prohibited from storing and selling more than the approved amounts, he added.
Due to the dollar shortage, the regime previously imported fuel from China via Kanpiketi in Kachin State and Muse in northern Shan State because it could pay for it in yuan. But that avenue is now closed since the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) seized Kanpiketi after defeating junta-aligned militias there.
“China only wants to sell fuel to the official government,” the supplier said.
The ban has given rise to a lively black market with attendant price hikes.
A manager of a Mandalay-based fuel distribution company said: “We used to supply Sagaing and Kachin, but we can’t now because of the ban. The ban has led to a black market, which increases transportation costs and results in price increases in the prohibited areas.”
The regime has banned the transport of fuel beyond Sagaing Bridge across the Irrawaddy linking Mandalay and Sagaing, he said.
In southern Shan State, fuel bowsers cannot go beyond Loilem. In the border trade hub of Muse, some filling stations have already closed, and prices have soared to 15,000-18,000 kyats per liter in the black market, according to sources.
Chin State, where intense fighting rages, now relies heavily on fuel imported from India as the regime has cut off supplies.
That costs 150 Indian rupees (around 8,100 kyats) per liter, whereas the fuel coming from central Myanmar is sold for 8,700 kyats per liter, according to a resident of northern Chin State.
“The prices are exorbitant. It takes one or two weeks [from Magwe] to our area. Trucks can’t use the Gangaw Road; only private cars are allowed and trucks can only use Mahamyaing Road. Sometimes the junta closes roads for a couple of days. The checkpoint fees are extremely high, up to 2 million kyats per vehicle, and even then it’s not guaranteed,” he added.
While the junta has set the price of fuel at around 3,000 kyats per liter in Yangon, prices in remote and conflict-affected areas have soared to around 10,000 kyats per liter due to restrictions and shortages.
