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Compared to last week, queue lengths in many places fell by about two-thirds. Most stations capped sales at Tk 500 to Tk 800 for motorcyclists not registered on the Fuel Pass app and Tk 1,000 to Tk 1,400 for users of the app.

Just days earlier, queues resembled the early-2000s “Snake” game, spilling onto roads and alleys, sometimes looping back to their starting points.

Motorcyclists at that time had to wait four to eight hours, while cars queued for 10 to 14 hours.

Yesterday, queues stayed on main roads without stretching into alleys at most filling stations.

At 4:00pm, motorists at Eureka station near Mohakhali level crossing waited only half an hour, while Clean Fuel Filling Station still required two to four hours.

Stations such as Shikder, Satata and City in Tejgaon also saw less pressure, though Gulshan Service Station continued to face long queues until fresh supply arrived in the evening, serving only Fuel Pass customers.

Three Mohakhali pumps remained shut, as they had during the peak of the crisis.

At Trust Filling Station near Bijoy Sarani, motorcyclists reported two-and-a-half-hour waits, with sales restricted to app-registered customers.

Car queues remained longer overall, causing traffic congestion in several areas. Cars were now refuelling Tk 3,000–4,000 worth of fuel, up from Tk 1,500–2,000 earlier.

Mohammad Nazmul Haque, president of Bangladesh Petroleum Dealers, Distributors, Agents and Petrol Pump Owners Association, told The Daily Star that the situation had started to improve after the government raised fuel supply.

He said ample oil supply from depots on Thursday allowed many pumps to meet demand ahead of Friday’s closure, easing Saturday’s rush.

“This trend is a positive sign and suggests that if the government continues to maintain or further increase the supply, the long lines at petrol pumps will eventually disappear entirely,” he added.

NO CROWDS OUTSIDE DHAKA

In Chattogram, filling stations saw no crowds yesterday, unlike last week when sales were capped at Tk 300–500 for motorcycles and up to Tk 1,000 for cars, with waits of one to four hours.

Motorcyclist Rubel Das said he had waited three and a half hours last week for Tk 500 worth of fuel. Yesterday, he said, “I’ve got my required amount in just 15 minutes!”

MA Masud, general manager of QC Trading Limited, said demand had declined in recent days, with motorists now getting fuel within minutes.

In Sylhet, supplies of petrol and octane improved over the last couple of days, with motorists reporting a near-normal situation.

Trader Debkalyan Dhar said, “I refuelled my motorcycle with five litres of octane in minutes.”

Rent-a-car owner Iftekhar Irad added that earlier, many stations were out of petrol for days, forcing his vehicles to remain idle and long trips to be suspended. “Now, everything feels normal and we resumed our long-distance operation,” he said.

In Khulna, queues that once stretched for over a kilometre were largely absent yesterday, with motorists getting fuel within 10 to 15 minutes.

At the Metropolitan Filling Station opposite New Market on the Khulna-Jashore highway, only a small number of motorcycles and cars were seen waiting.

In Rangpur and Lalmonirhat, pump operators said crowds of motorcyclists had fallen by 30–35 percent since Thursday, partly due to the Fuel Pass system and because many motorcycles had already refuelled earlier in the week.

Biker Zahir Ali said, “Before Thursday, we had to stand in line for almost five to six hours. Since then, we haven’t had to wait more than two hours.”

In Mymensingh, officials said the demand for diesel had eased as Boro paddy cultivation neared completion, though shortages of petrol and octane persisted.

As of Thursday, the country had a stock of 132,271 tonnes of diesel, 42,300 tonnes of octane and 18,440 tonnes of petrol, as per the latest data of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC).

On April 20, BPC increased the daily diesel supply by 10 percent to 13,048 tonnes; petrol by 10 percent to 1,511 tonnes; and octane by 20 percent to 1,422 tonnes, compared to last year’s supply.

However, compared to the first 17 days of April, the current daily supply of diesel has increased by 17.5 percent, petrol by 20.6 percent, and octane by 25.9 percent.

Between April 1-17 this year, amid uncertainties over import and increased global prices, the average daily supply of diesel was cut to 11,107 tonnes, octane 1,129 tonnes and petrol 1,253 tonnes, deepening the crisis at fuel pumps.

[Our correspondents in respective districts contributed to the report.]