Oil Minister: No sufficient stock of petroleum products for Sudan

The Sudanese oil minister acknowledged that there has been no strategic stock of petroleum products that is enough for the country’s demand for the past two days.

Oil Minister Azhari Abdelgader spoke at a parliamentary session yesterday. He said that the daily deficit of benzine is 800 metric tons and the deficit for diesel amounts to 4,300 metric tons.

He stressed that the production by El Jeili Refinery near Khartoum does not cover the daily consumption required, especially not in diesel.

Many states in Sudan are still experiencing severe shortages of fuel and bread – crises that played a major role in sparking the public anger that has erupted into open public revolt across the country over the last two months.

In Khartoum, people have seen long queues of vehicles for fuel and the main bus stations experienced huge crowds waiting for transportation.

This week the Sudanese Oil Corporation implemented the decision to restrict the use of petrol for the owners of private vehicles by limiting the filling of the vehicle once a week by a designated card issued by the Corporation.

Fuel shortages also impact the agricultural sector as farmers make use of water pumps to irrigate the crops, that are run by fuel.