Tunisia suffers worsening household gas crisis amid cold weather

The shortage in household gas cylinders in Tunisia is being exacerbated by the cold spell which the country has experienced this week, officials have said.

In early January, Tunisia announced that it had received more than 22,000 tonnes of household gas from Algeria to meet the growing demand during winter.

Despite this, the crisis of obtaining gas cylinders persists. Social media users have been sharing videos of long queues for gas supplies, while others have taken to social media to ask where they can get their hands on some cylinders.

In mid-January, Tunisia experienced a severe cold wave, with temperatures dropping to freezing and even below in areas affected by snowfall.

Khaled Beltin, director-general of the National Oil Distribution Company Agil, told the Tunisian News Agency last week that three ships carrying liquefied gas would dock at Tunisian commercial ports this week.

He attributed the crisis in Greater Tunis to a malfunction at a Rades Port filling centre, which usually supplies 35,000 cylinders a day.

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