Consumption of diesel increases to 40M tons per day due to harvest season

CAIRO – 1 May 2017: Consumption of diesel increased to some 40 million tons a day due to the agricultural harvest season, which starts in March and lasts until mid May, an official source in the petroleum sector said on Tuesday.

He said that normal consumption rates do not exceed 37,000 tons a day. Egypt sees an increase in the local consumption of diesel every year as a result of the harvest season.

Diesel is considered the basic fuel for heavy transport vehicles and agricultural tractors.

The source said that petroleum products are regularly supplied to all gas stations to meet people’s demand.

He added that the recent hike in petroleum products’ prices has led to the rationalization of consumption as well as new consumption patterns.

As part of Egypt’s reform program, the government had slashed fuel subsidies three times since 2014. The last increase was in June 2017, when the government hiked fuel prices by up to 50 percent.

The price of 92-octane gasoline had increased to LE 5, from LE3.5 pounds per liter,
Diesel and 80-octane, the most commonly used fuel, rose to LE 3.65 pounds per liter from LE 2.35, while cooking gas cylinders’ prices increased to LE 30, from LE 15 per cylinder.

A fresh round of fuel subsidy cuts is expected by the beginning of fiscal year 2018/19, which will start in July.