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Gasoline shipments amid queues
Syria’s Ministry of Energy said it is distributing more than 7 million liters of gasoline to fuel stations across the country on Sunday to ease pressure on supplies after a surge in demand.
The ministry said 305 fuel shipments, each carrying 24,000 liters, are being dispatched from distribution centers in Baniyas and Homs as part of the country’s daily fuel supply plan.
SANA reported that Abdul Hamid Sallat, director of the ministry’s media department, said 164 shipments totaling 3.94 million liters had been delivered by midday, while the remaining tankers were continuing to destinations across the country.
In Damascus, the Syrian Future Movement said the fuel crisis has gripped the capital for a fifth consecutive day, with queues stretching for more than two kilometers and most private gas stations closed while severe congestion returned to the few remaining government-run stations.
Officials say supplies stable
The Syrian Ministry of Energy said gasoline is available despite heavy crowds, issuing an explanatory statement that it was coordinating with relevant authorities to address congestion and the confusion it caused for citizens.
In that statement, the ministry attributed the crisis to an unprecedented rise in demand within a short period, alongside delays by some stations in drawing their allocations that led to significant pressure on supply requests and delays in loading operations at the shipping depots.
Enab Baladi reported that the Ministry of Energy says it continues to supply petroleum products, while its press office told Enab Baladi that compensating station owners for losses from price differences is under study.
Enab Baladi also quoted Abd al-Razzaq Habzeh, secretary of the Consumer Protection Association, saying the lack of proactive measures was one of the causes of the current crisis, and described the crisis as a consequence of decisions made by the Fuel Pricing Committee without compensating station owners for price differences.
Pricing policy and recurrence risk
The Syrian Future Movement said the crisis began after the formation of a permanent committee to determine petroleum product prices on June 23, 2016, which mandated the use of the Syrian pound in all sales transactions, but was not accompanied by prior coordination with private gas station owners.
“Several Syrian provinces are witnessing a crisis of long queues of cars at fuel stations, with citizens complaining of waits of up to three hours, while the Syrian Petroleum Company says what is happening is a congestion in distribution rather than a shortage of supply”
It said a source in the Ministry of Energy confirmed that Syria currently does not have an electronic system to compensate station owners for price differences when they are adjusted, making the crisis likely to recur with any future price changes.
Enab Baladi reported that the crisis began when the Fuel Pricing Committee approved a reduction in the prices of petroleum products on June 27, and said economists interviewed by Enab Baladi expected the outcome because the decision was made without proactive measures to compensate station owners for price differences in quantities they had before the decision.
The Syrian Future Movement warned that the continued absence of an electronic compensation system and weak prior coordination are key factors in the recurrence of this crisis with any new price adjustments, while also recalling that the crisis was primarily focused on gasoline and that no similar crisis was recorded for diesel.
