Gabonese authorities on Thursday sought to reassure households over a persistent shortage of domestic butane gas and fuel affecting Greater Libreville, saying emergency measures were under way to restore supplies by the end of the month.
Oil and Gas Minister Clotaire Kondja convened crisis talks with senior officials from the Gabonese Company for the Storage of Petroleum Products (SGEPP) and representatives of gas marketers and distributors, amid growing public frustration over the disruption.
The meeting aimed to identify the causes of the shortage and agree on immediate operational steps to stabilise supply in the capital and surrounding areas, where domestic gas is widely used for cooking.
“There is no question of this crisis lasting,” Kondja told participants, stressing that President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema was closely monitoring the situation and expected swift and concrete solutions.
Industry representatives attributed the shortage to a combination of seasonal pressures and logistical constraints linked to the end-of-year holiday period. According to distributors, consumption surged between late December and early January, while transport and filling operations slowed due to extended public holidays.
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“This is a seasonal problem, but the period has been abnormally long this year,” said Jean-Baptiste Bikalou, spokesman for gas distributors. He said strong demand coincided with reduced operational capacity at production and filling centres.
Distributors also pointed to precautionary consumer behaviour that worsened the situation. At the first signs of scarcity, some households began stockpiling cylinders, sometimes purchasing several at once, amplifying pressure on already stretched supplies.
To address the crisis, marketers presented a contingency plan centred on boosting output at filling centres. Some facilities will move to extended or continuous operations, potentially running 24 hours a day, Bikalou said.
“We are going to increase the capacity of our centres, some of which can operate around the clock,” he added, noting that additional teams could be mobilised to ensure uninterrupted operations along the supply chain.
SGEPP, which oversees the storage and distribution of petroleum products nationwide, said it would reinforce its operational teams to improve logistics efficiency and accelerate deliveries to retailers.
Authorities also said the emergency plan includes measures to prevent the shortage from spreading beyond the capital. Supplies to provincial areas will be maintained and closely monitored to avoid knock-on effects elsewhere in the country.
Gabon has faced recurrent fuel and gas supply disruptions in recent years, often linked to logistical bottlenecks, maintenance issues at infrastructure facilities, or spikes in demand. Domestic gas shortages tend to have an immediate social impact, particularly in urban areas where households rely heavily on bottled butane for daily cooking.
While officials acknowledged the seriousness of the current disruption, industry players said early signs of improvement were expected within days, with a full return to normal supply conditions anticipated before the end of January.
In the meantime, authorities urged consumers to avoid panic buying and assured the public that there was no structural shortage of butane gas at national level.
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The government said it would continue to monitor the situation closely, warning that speculative practices or hoarding could worsen supply tensions and undermine efforts to stabilise the market.
Access to affordable domestic gas remains a key issue for Gabonese households, particularly amid broader concerns over the cost of living. The latest disruption has renewed calls for stronger supply chain resilience and better anticipation of seasonal demand peaks.
Officials said lessons from the current shortage would feed into longer-term reforms aimed at improving storage capacity, distribution planning and coordination between public agencies and private operators.
For now, the government insists the crisis is temporary and that emergency measures should allow households in Greater Libreville to see a gradual improvement in availability in the days ahead.
