Shell & Esso closes petrol stations briefly on Dec 31, Jan 1 for system update due to GST hike

SINGAPORE: Two petrol companies, Esso and Shell, have announced that their stations will be closed on the last half-hour of this year to the first hour and a half of 2024 to perform adjustments to their systems as a one per cent increase in the Goods & Services Tax (GST) kicks in.

While all Shell stations will be closed briefly, Esso stations will be closed in batches. Shell stations will close from 11:30 pm on Dec 31 until 12:20 am on Jan 1. However, Shell Recharge will remain operational, so electrical vehicle drivers may still charge their EVs.

Meanwhile, Esso said in a Facebook post that its stations will be closed in batches from 11:30 pm on Dec 31, 2023, until 1:30 am on Jan 1, 2024, to put its system update in place. The companies apologised for any inconvenience the temporary closures would cause their customers.

The following stations will be open from 11:30 pm on Dec 31 to 12:30 am on Jan 1:  Esso Bedok South, Esso Bukit Batok, Esso Bukit Timah, Esso Changi, Esso Choa Chu Kang Ave 3, Esso Frankel, Esso Geylang Lorong 38, Esso Holland, Esso Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim, Esso Jalan Bukit Merah, Esso Jalan Buroh, Esso Jurong West, Esso Lorong Chuan, Esso M-D Petroleum, Esso Mountbatten, Esso Newton, Esso Queensway B, Esso Sembawang A, Esso Seng Kang, Esso Tampines Ave 9, Esso Tanglin, Esso Tanjong Katong B, Esso Upper Aljunied, Esso Upper Bukit Timah A, Esso Upper Serangoon, Esso Upper Thomson, Esso Windsor, Esso Woodlands Ave 1, Esso Yio Chu Kang B.

Here is the list of Esso’s other stations that will be open from 12:30 am to 1.30 am on Jan 1: Esso Aljunied B, Esso Ang Mo Kio Ave 8, Esso Bedok North, Esso Bukit Panjang, Esso Choa Chu Kang Way, Esso Dunearn, Esso East Coast, Esso Guillemard, Esso Jervois, Esso Jurong East, Esso Jurong Kechil, Esso Kovan, Esso Lavender, Esso Lower Pierce, Esso Macpherson, Esso Pasir Panjang, Esso Pasir Ris, Esso Pioneer, Esso Queensway A, Esso Sembawang B, Esso Seng Kang West, Esso Telok Blangah, Esso Toa Payoh Lorong 2, Esso Upper Changi North B, Esso Upper East Coast, Esso West Coast, Esso Winstedt, Esso Woodlands Road, Esso Yio Chu Kang A, and Esso Yishun.

The GST will go from eight to nine per cent on Jan 1, 2024. The hike was announced in 2018 but was delayed during the Covid-19 pandemic. It went from seven to eight per cent at the beginning of 2023. /TISG

Read also: 2024: Higher GST, more price hikes, and even rising costs for gas, electricity and water