Long lines of motorcycles and cars stretch out under the sun in front of gas stations in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is raising fears of shortages and price increases.

A crucial corridor for the transport of hydrocarbons, the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf is currently blocked by Iranian forces, in the context of the war in the Middle East.

For the DRC, which imports almost all the oil consumed by its more than 100 million inhabitants, a shortage could paralyze an economy largely dependent on road transport for the distribution of goods. The country also has only one land pipeline, which carries imported oil from the Atlantic port of Matadi (west) to Kinshasa.

The Congolese Ministry of Economy assured in a statement on Monday that "there is no fuel shortage and that stocks of petroleum products are available and sufficient to supply the entire territory".

And in an attempt to resolve the situation at the pumps, he announced exemptions from customs duties and the "strengthening" of advances to oil companies, "in a context of tensions linked to the geopolitical situation in the Middle East," he specified, without however giving details on the exact sources of oil supply to the DRC.

Yet, on the edge of a main road in the capital, motorcyclists clinging to their handlebars have been elbowing their way through the crowd for several days, shouting to make room for themselves in the throng and secure a few liters of fuel that has become scarce.

"There are colleagues who have been here for 4 hours," laments Emmanuel Gédeon Nzunzi, one of those motorcycle taxi drivers essential for the travel of some 17 million Kinshasa residents accustomed to suffocating in the traffic jams of the overpopulated megacity.

Temporary shortages are not unusual in the vast Central African country with its aging infrastructure. But this time, the threat comes from further afield: "We saw on social media, people are talking about the war in Iran," Marcel believes, as he waits patiently in front of his motorcycle taxi.

"Pressure"

"We don't have any stocks?" complains Moise Ilunga, a motorcycle taxi driver. "This war has to stop, we have to negotiate with Iran, we're suffering."

Fuel distributors, caught between fears of soaring oil prices and regulated pump prices, are being blamed for this sudden shortage.

The Congolese state regulates pump prices, which amount to the equivalent of about one dollar (2,440 Congolese francs) per liter in the province of Kinshasa, and pays subsidies to players in the oil sector to make up the difference with the real price.

Emery Mbasthi, vice-president of the Congolese Petroleum Association, told AFP he fears "depleting reserves without being able to replenish them." He is calling on the authorities to raise the price per liter at the pump or increase subsidies.

Oil prices have already increased since the start of the war in Iran and "oil companies are used to putting pressure on the government to review fuel prices" by keeping their stocks, Jacques Mukena, a researcher at the Congolese Ebuteli Institute, told AFP.

But the Congolese government "is not going to immediately increase this shortfall," the specialist adds.

Increasing subsidies to oil distributors would put a heavy burden on the state budget, while raising prices at the pump would have "a political and social impact," Mr. Mukena points out.

The DRC, where the population is one of the poorest in the world, is particularly vulnerable to fluctuations in oil prices.

Moïse Ilunga claims that motorcyclists like him now have to pay 1,000 Congolese francs in bribes to have the right to fill their tanks at the pump: "With these costs, I will have to ask customers for more money" for the ride, explains Marcel, amidst the cacophony of engines and horns that saturates the Kinshasa atmosphere.

The Prime Minister's office stated on Tuesday that the DRC had stocks that could supply the country until June and promised, for the time being, to limit the increase in prices at the pump.