A domestic gas crisis has resurfaced in the provisional capital Aden, with residents crowding outside filling stations and the price of a cylinder on the black market rising to more than twice the official rate, according to residents, amid disruptions to transport and distribution operations and irregular allocations to the governorate.
Transport bottlenecks and irregular allocations
Informed sources said the crisis was linked less to a shortage of gas at its source in Marib than to the transport, distribution and pricing system. They said tanker deliveries from Safer had been delayed by procedures and congestion at checkpoints along the route.
The sources added that Aden’s allocations were not arriving regularly in line with its growing population density, causing supply bottlenecks to recur every few months without a sustainable solution to their underlying causes.
Black market puts pressure on households
Supply disruptions have fueled the expansion of black-market activity, while residents said the price of a gas cylinder had risen to more than twice the official rate, adding to the burden on low-income households that rely on domestic gas for their daily needs.
The sources also attributed the worsening crisis to some agents monopolizing available quantities and reselling them at inflated prices, alongside weak oversight of filling stations and the system for distributing cylinders through local community representatives.
Calls for transparency and tighter oversight
Residents of Aden called for a clear and transparent mechanism for distributing gas, the publication of daily lists showing the quantities received and distributed, stronger oversight and accountability for those manipulating supplies, measures they said would limit the leakage of supplies into the black market and prevent the crisis from recurring.
