It was in the presence of the Director General of the Petroleum Regulatory Authority.
During the meeting, the Oil minister asked several questions so as to know the root causes of the shortage and proposed solutions.
“How come that the refinery continues to produce and the people cannot get gas. Is this short supply not artificial, created by economic operators” Mahamat Hamid Koua asked gas distributors.
The latter, on the other hand, blame it on the state during the talks which lasted for about an hour in the office of the Minister of Petroleum.
The General Director of the STG, Mahamat Guidam, argued that, to satisfy the needs of the population, 8 to 10 tanks per day are required.
However, he says, the Djarmaya refinery only supplies them with around five tanks presently.
This is very insufficient, Mr. Guidam claimed.
The other problem, according to Guidam, is the use of gas cylinders.
The government has taken a decision that requires gas distributors to fill only their own bottles.
“The customer, as soon as he buys, for the first time, does not care where he needs to go to reload it. Once the bottle is empty, he goes back to a point of sale and changes it to another one. The government should not subject economic operators to such a decision which has a clear impact on the consumer who sometimes shows up at several points of sale to exchange his empty canister “, Mr. Guidam lamented.
Another solution is the import of gas from Cameroon and Nigeria to fill the 30 percent gap that the Djarmaya refinery is currently experiencing, according to the Director General of ARSAT, Mahamat Hassan Hissein.