CAIRO - A Severe shortage of diesel fuel swept Egyptian governorates for the fifth consecutive day despite the Government's pledges that the crisis will be over within two days. Long lines of cars stretched outside petrol stations nationwide, as the State-subsidised diesel is the main fuel by which transport vehicles are operated. The crisis started with a black market when farmers could not find supplies at local petrol stations to power their machinery and harvest crops, according to observers. "I have not gone to work for the second day due to diesel shortage. I spent three hours in the petrol station until my turn came. I was told to go home as there was no diesel supply any more," said Abdel Wahab Ali, a microbus driver. As the 43-year-old driver was inside his vehicle with the engine shut down, a spat erupted between two other drivers over who should fuel his car first in a petrol station on the Cairo-Alexandria Desert Road. Egypt imports most of the diesel, buying it at world market prices and reselling it to Egyptians at less than 40 per cent of the cost. The difference is estimated to cost the Government some LE20 billion, or almost a third of the sum allocated for energy subsidies. "The Ministry of Finance on Sunday allocated $300 million for the Petroleum Public Authority (PPA) to finance the diesel fuel and butane gas imports from abroad," Minister of Social Solidarity Gouda Abdel Khaleq said in press remarks. Abdel Khaleq, whose ministry manages the subsidised diesel along with basic goods and services, has earlier said that Egypt produces 75 per cent of diesel locally. "However, the reason for the crisis is the instability and manipulating the absence of security across the nation to extend black market," the minister said. He called on Egyptians to consider current economic conditions and lower their consumption in order to help the country overcome the difficult economic situation. The wheat harvest has also stalled for want of diesel to run agricultural machines. A statement from the General Petroleum Corporation on Sunday said that it had imported 140,000 tonnes of diesel, of which 35,000 had already arrived at an unnamed Egyptian port. The rest is expected to arrive within the next week.Several people were injured in clashes in some parts of the nation during scrambles for the fuel at petrol stations.
