By Ashraf Abdul Wahab.
Tripoli, 27 July 2014:
The cost of petroleum products has increased sharply as the ongoing clashes at Tripoli International . . .[restrict]Airport have kept roads closed and fuel scarce.
The main fuel repository for Tripoli as well as the roads leading to the oil refinery and the oil port are blocked, making it nearly impossible to fill the tanks at petrol stations or supply stores with cooking gas.
Because fuel is now scarce, prices have soared. The cost of one litre of petrol has risen from LD 0.15/litre before the airport clashes to LD 5/litre. A cylinder of cooking gas has risen to LD 150, which is an increase of nearly 400 percent since last week.
Brega Petroleum Marketing Company has sent fuel trucks from Misrata in an effort to ease the crisis, but some of them have been seized by members of the Libya Shield for use in the vehicles involved in the fight in Tripoli.
Furthermore, officials at some petrol stations refused the deliveries because of a lack of security forces in place to monitor the distribution process.
Nevertheless, the petrol that did arrive in Tripoli was not nearly enough to supply the needs of those in the city. [/restrict]
