Out of Gas

By Ahmed Mansour

Many of us spent hours and hours queuing for gas this year, and after months of butane and petrol shortages, we soon got used to long waits and the frequent disappointment of going home empty-handed. Though it was especially felt this past year, natural gas canisters have been disappearing gradually from the streets of Egypt since around the time of the 2011 revolution. Rarely to be found, they cost double, if not triple, their original price on the black market. “This is a crisis that the government is well aware of, and we vow to end it as soon as possible,” Minister of Supply Mohamed Abu-Shadi promised in early November. With people going as far as killing each other to get their hands on one of the canisters, Abu-Shadi admitted the shortage crisis is “affecting the people of Egypt, specially the poor ones, negatively, and it will soon be dealt with.” True to his word, Abu-Shadi has worked to boost the amount canisters sent daily to distribution centers from 1 million to 1.3 million canisters. Also in November, an official at the state-run Egyptian General Petroleum Company announced that Saudi Arabia plans to send Egypt $75 million (LE 517 million) worth of butane gas, giving many hope the shortage will come to an end soon.