Fuel prices shooting up in southwestern Sudan

Babanusa town in West Kordofan State is experiencing since last week an acute shortage of fuel, especially petrol, according to local residents.

Babanusa town in West Kordofan State is experiencing since last week an acute shortage of fuel, especially petrol, according to local residents.

“A gallon of petrol on the black market reached SDG 70 whereas it costs SDG 27 at the fuel stations,” a local citizen explained on Radio Tamazuj.

Most of the fuel stations in the town have been completely shut down due to scarcity of fuel, which apparently paralyzed the public transit services.

Several owners of fuel stations attributed the problem to delay of fuel supplies for unknown reasons. They called on the authorities concerned to quickly intervene and relieve the crisis before the situation deteriorates. 

Elsewhere, South Darfur’s capital city Nyala also witnessed overcrowding of cars at queues at fuel stations throughout the day.

An eyewitness told Radio Tamazuj that numerous fuel stations in the town have run out of fuel, while few reserves remaining at some fuel stations. Consequently, the price of tariffs for local bus services rose from 2 SDG to 3 SDG.

Local traders also attributed the problem to delay of a convoy carrying the fuel supply due to reported insecurity along the Khartoum-Nyala road.

Radio Tamazuj also reported on Monday from northern Unity State in South Sudan a lack of gasoline on markets in some areas, with pricing of a gallon sometimes reaching up to about 120 South Sudanese pounds.  

File photo: Vehicles queue for petrol in Nyala