Libya’s fuel crisis is testing the limits of state control
Libya’s Interior Minister Emad Trabelsi claimed that more than 500 non compliant petrol stations have been closed and will not be allowed to reopen, while NOC chairman Masoud Suleiman reported a strategy to counter the sharp surge in fuel demand during Eid, as reported by APA News, Libya Herald, and Agenzia Nova on June 2nd.
Trabelsi claimed that the Interior Ministry is monitoring 594 suspected petrol stations in western Libya while the Fuel and Gas Crisis Committee is directly supervising distribution operations as a proposal was discussed during an emergency meeting.
On of the main objectives of the proposal is to fight fuel smuggling, as recently the Southern Liberation Operations Room has accused Haftar affiliated groups of massively moving fuel tankers from the Kalinga area toward Chad and then Sudan, alleging that the subsidised fuel is being diverted abroad while Libyan cities face long queues.
According to Trabelsi the new proposal will greatly reduced smuggling through petrol stations and no station will be allowed to reopen unless it meets approved specifications and legal requirements.
Suleiman’s explanation points instead to the pressure on the system, he stated how fuel supplies remain fully available but distribution has been strained by logistical obstacles and an exceptional increase in demand during the Eid holiday period.
In Tripoli around 11 million litres of gasoline were pumped on the day before Eid alone compared with around 5 million litres during similar periods in previous years, daily distribution then remained between 9 million and 9.5 million litres while normal consumption is usually no more than 6.5 million litres.
That surge and the smuggling however do not fully explain the queues as Libya’s heavily subsidised fuel system created strong incentives for diversion and hoarding.
This makes the fuel crisis a test of governance rather than supply alone. Given its impact and circumstances, Libya can import and distribute large volumes of fuel but weak monitoring allows public resources to move into informal and criminal markets before reaching consumers.
The issue also revives the long standing debate over fuel subsidies, cheap fuel is politically sensitive because it supports households but the same pricing system enables industrial scale smuggling to neighbouring countries.
Libya Herald APA News and agencies, Agenzia Nova, maghrebi.org
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