A shortage in 80-octane gasoline and diesel caused overcrowding yesterday at several gas stations throughout Egypt. In Alexandria lines of cars waiting to fill up their gas tanks extended for almost one kilometer, clogging side streets. The situation was exacerbated by rumors that the prices of gasoline and diesel may increase over the coming days. Owners of gas stations predict that the price of diesel will increase by LE0.25 per liter and that of gasoline by LE0.50 per liter. Sayyed el-Maradni, a gas station owner, said the same crisis arises every year in Alexandria. Mohamed Hassan Bedeiwi, general manager of internal trade in Alexandria, said that so far no instructions have been given to raise the prices of petroleum products, adding that pricing speculations are related to the start of the new fiscal year in July. Mahmoud Rashwan, head of Trade Control, said an attempt to smuggle 5000 liters of diesel has been foiled and the fuel sold instead to consumers at official prices. The Public Prosecution has been notified of the incident, he said. In Minya, the shortage of diesel and gasoline has led to overcrowding at gas stations and caused some traders to sell both fuels at higher prices on the black market. In el-Wadi el-Gadid, several consumers and drivers reported a lack of diesel and 80-octane gasoline at gas stations. Salah el-Sayyed, the deputy supply minister, said the governorate receives a monthly quota of 5000 tons of gasoline and diesel. According to el-Sayyed, this amount is sufficient since there is only a small number of cars in the governorate. In Daqahliya, residents have not been able to obtain gas cylinders for domestic use. More than 90,000 residents in the area depend on the gas cylinders. Khaled el-Sawi, general manager of petroleum materials at the supply department in Daqahliya, said storehouses have not been receiving their full quotas of gas cylinders from the New Damietta filling factory. El-Sawi added that the Petroleum Gas Company is responsible for mapping out how the cylinders are distributed and that his department has contacted the company to find a solution to the problem. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
