LPG Shortage: Import Dependence Deepens

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LPG Shortage: Import Dependence Deepens

Cameroon has more than 6,000 billion cubic feet of natural gas, but lacks the industrial capacity to turn those reserves into LPG.

23 Sep 2026 22:42

W hat began about two months ago as a shortage of Liquefied Petro leum Gas (LPG) in Cameroon’s South West and East Regions has now spread across the country, including Douala. Fuel stations are rationing supplies, with long queues spilling onto major roads and causing traffic jams. At TotalEnergies, Tradex, Neptune, Bocom, and Afrigaz stations, customers are hearing the same explanation: “Gas is finished, we are expecting gas hopefully tomorrow.” Some frustrated consumers now ex change contact details with station workers and nearby traders to know when supplies arrive. The crisis has hit owners of SCTM cylinders particular ly hard, with the cylinders re portedly out of the market. Some owners are paying FCFA 20,000 to roadside vendors to exchange an empty SCTM bottle for a filled cylinder of another brand, which, accor ding to them, is supposed to be free of charge. Going by authorities, the situation is under control. According to the Cameroonian Petroleum Depots Company (SCDP), domestic LPG demand is increasing by 15 per cent an nually, while local production is failing to keep pace. Since the 2019 SONARA refinery fire, about four out of every five gas cylinders have been imported. Cameroon’s only significant production site, Bipaga in the Ocean Division, supplied only about 30,000 tonnes in 2025, against consumption exceeding 100,000 tonnes. In early August 2026, the departure of the Hilli Episeyo, which had liquefied nearly 30,000 tonnes annually, reduced local production to barely 2,000 tonnes, further increasing reliance on imports. The pressure is also costly for the State as L...