The Petroleum Ministry on Wednesday said that it had increased this month's supplies of diesel fuel and liquid petroleum gas (LPG) to meet growing domestic market demands. Petroleum Minister Abdullah Ghorab told Al-Masry Al-Youm that diesel fuel supplies had been increased by around 23 percent this month as compared to the same month last year, while supplies of LPG were increased by nearly 16 percent. Ghorab said that the necessary funds required for import operations were made available to the Egyptian Petroleum Authority (EPA). EPA Vice President Mohamed Shoaib said that the number of available LPG cylinders amounted to 1.1 million cylinders per day, an increase of 200,000 cylinders from the same period last year, a 16 percent increase. Shoaib said the current “LPG crisis” is “fabricated”, noting that the market should be witnessing a decline in demand to accompany the current decline in industrial and commercial activity. He added that current consumption rates exceed those of the winter season, during which typically demand increases, and pointed out that brick factories and bakeries have been seizing subsidized LPG. Meanwhile, an official source from the EPA announced that some 105,000 tons of LPG would be imported next month through the Arab Maritime Petroleum Transport Company, the largest supplier of LPG for the EPA, as well as from other companies. Translated from the Arabic Edition
