Oil demand in Algeria has risen very strongly over the last few weeks, creating some shortages in parts of the country, a source at Naftal, the country's main fuel distributor, said Wednesday.
But he added that Naftal had stepped up its deliveries in recent days in a bid to improve the situation.
"Naftal has increased its deliveries by 20% overall to meet the very strong demand, and by 100% at some fuel forecourts," the source said.
"The start of the holiday period and the summer, the start of Ramadan and the high demand for farmers are all to blame," he added.
A second source in the industry said fuel smuggling to Morocco, situated to the west of Algeria, was also a major reason for the shortages.
Retail prices for gasoline are around 12.20 dirhams ($1.40) per liter in Morocco, almost five times higher than in Algeria. For diesel, they are 8.20 dirhams (90 cents), nearly six times higher.
Nizar Baraka, Morocco's economics and finance minister, recently said 1.63 million liters of fuel smuggled from Algeria had been seized between January and May, up around a quarter from 2012.
The differential in retail prices between the two countries has fed a vast smuggling operation, which has in turn reinforced fuel shortages in the west of Algeria.
Consumption ceilings have been set at certain fuel forecourts in west Algeria, but this has meant smugglers targeted forecourts situated further east, the second source said.
