IOC Did NOT Request Against Filling Fuel Tanks to the Maximum Limit, Due to Rising Heat in SL!

Social media is abuzz with viral claims that the Indian Oil Company (IOC) warns people against filling their fuel tanks to the maximum level due to the rise in atmospheric temperature currently being experienced in Sri Lanka. 

The claims have been going viral, creating panic among the Sri Lankan public. However, our investigation revealed that they weren’t true and that the IOC had not released such a statement either! 

Social Media Posts

Below is one example of viral social media posts that are trying to convince the public that fuel tanks should not be filled to the maximum level these days due to the current increasing rise in temperature, claiming that there have already been five explosion accidents in the past week.

Facebook | Archived

The viral forward shared as a warning from IOC is viral on WhatsApp, too.

The posts say that the fuel tanks of vehicles can explode due to high atmospheric temperatures.

Fact Check

First, we searched mainstream media to see whether they had reported such a warning statement from the IOC or whether there had been any recent reports of fuel tank explosions. But there were no such reports.

After that, we searched the official social media handles of the Lanka IOC. We found an official statement by the IOC clarifying that the viral social media forward was fake and that they didn`t issue such a warning to the general public, as seen below.

Archived

Furthermore, IOC Lanka points out that vehicle manufacturing companies mark the maximum limits of the oil tanks after considering all the relevant factors with built-in safety factors. Therefore, it`s perfectly safe to fill the fuel tanks to the maximum level specified by the manufacturer, whether winter or summer.

We also noticed that these claims had previously gone viral in India. Here is the same statement from IOC India with the same clarification from June 2019.

There is a concept named auto-ignition temperature. It simply means the lowest atmospheric temperature, which leads to the fire of fuel without the influence of any external flames/sparks. For petrol, the auto-ignition temperature is 246 Celsius, and for Diesel, It`s 210 Celsius. In any country, the maximum atmospheric temperature is generally below 50 Celsius. So, it`s clear that the general heat of the atmosphere due to the sun`s energy does not pave the way for a fuel tank explosion. Details about this can be read here. Archived.

Also, new vehicle models are equipped with sensors such as the Evaporative Emissions System (commonly referred to as “EVAP”) that reads pressure in the fuel system to detect evaporative leaks and illuminate the “check engine” light.

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Conclusion

Our investigation found that IOC had not released any advisory statement warning the public against filling their vehicle fuel tanks to the maximum limit. The message was viral a few years ago in India, too. IOC clarifies that they had not issued any such advisory, and it’s perfectly safe to fill the fuel tanks to the maximum level indicated by the manufacturer, irrespective of whether it`s summer or winter.

Read in Sinhala : අධික උණුසුම නිසා ෆුල් ටෑන්ක් ගැසීමෙන් වළකින ලෙසට IOC අනතුරු හැගවීමක් සිදුකළේ නැහැ!