PETROL supplies in Laos may face “some gaps”, a major supplier said on Monday, after the government held an emergency meeting to address soaring prices and panic buying in the country.

Many petrol stations were shut last week, according to media reports, forcing consumers to queue for hours to stock up on fuel. Laos relies on imports from neighbouring Thailand for most of its petroleum.

Thai oil and gas firm PTT Oil and Retail Business Pcl , which operates 53 petrol stations in Laos, said it plans to distribute fuel as usual, but that there may be “gaps”.

“In some instances where there are many customers, there may be some gaps, but we will try to manage the situation,” said Songpon Thepnumsommanus, a senior marketing officer.

He did not give further details.

With a population of just over seven million people, landlocked Laos is one of the poorest countries in the region and is targeting 4% annual economic growth through to 2025.

A weakened kip currency, high inflation and an unstable global oil market are making it hard for fuel importers to meet public demand, the Vientiane Times reported last week.

“It is hard to find stations that are open,” Kham Goodman, a resident of the capital Vientiane said on Monday, after posting videos on social media showing people waiting to fill up plastic water bottles with fuel.

The Laotian government on Friday played down the situation, saying it was “not that much of a crisis”, but held an emergency meeting and asked the public not to panic.

 - Reuters