Brega Marketing Company announced today that it has taken delivery of and started distributing a ‘‘large quantity’’ of new domestic gas cylinders.
It says it aims to distribute the gas cylinders (which are beige in colour rather than the old yellow and blue editions) in time for the holy month of Ramadan (which starts around the first of March this year).
The import of the new batch of gas cylinders is also part of its aim to secure a strategic stock to meet longer term demand, Brega added. The company stressed that the gas cylinders are of high-quality, conforming to Libyan standard specifications, and will be distributed across all of Libya.
Acute shortage of subsidised cylinders has created a black-market
It will be recalled that there has been an acute shortage of domestic gas cylinders since the 2011 revolution – especially in the far-flung parts of the country. This has led to a huge black-market trade in them, with a single full cylinder being exchanged for around LD 600 – LD 1,000 as opposed to its official refill price of LD 3.
Instant cylinder filling points
Brega has over the last few years established geographically dispersed instant gas cylinder filling stations across the country in an attempt to meet demand in an attempt to deflate the black market prices.
Plastic gas cylinders
It will also be recalled that Brega has ‘‘threatened’’ to introduce plastic gas cylinders instead of the metal ones several times over the last decade or more – but it has never succeeded beyond distributing a handful of sample cylinders.
The shortage is caused by multiple reasons
The causes of the gas cylinder shortage problems for the authorities are multiple. Firstly, Libya’s population has grown. Secondly the number of illegal migrants has mushroomed into the millions. Thirdly, there is no industrial alternative for the domestic gas cylinders, so workshops, factories and industry all use the domestic gas cylinder as their supply of gas.
Fourthly, the actual gas cylinders cost more than the LD 3 worth of subsidised cooking gas in them. They are smuggled to neighbouring countries and are used as scrap metal. This is why Brega had toyed, unsuccessfully, with introducing plastic cylinders to mitigate this.
Hence, over the years, these various factors have eroded the supply of cylinders in relation to demand – causing their price to spike.
LISCO has established a gas cylinder factory
It must also be noted that the Libyan Iron and Steel Company (LISCO) in Misrata has established a gas cylinder manufacturing plant. It was planned to start manufacturing this January or February.
LISCO to start manufacturing domestic gas cylinders at the start of 2025
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