THE price of fuel has been officially raised, but reports of long queues of people lining up to buy kerosene persist. The easy explanation is that the shortages are caused by the profiteers hoarding. But this is no longer valid. So what has gone wrong?

The shortages are felt at the end of the distribution chain, by the domestic consumers of kerosene. The problem can only be caused by one of two factors: an increase in demand or a reduction of supp