Tag Archives: fuel crisis

Lebanese parliament to discuss fuel crisis on Friday

BEIRUT (Reuters) -The Lebanese parliament will convene on Friday to discuss what to do about a fuel crisis that has brought much of the country to a halt and sparked deadly violence.

Speaker Nabih Berri called the session to discuss “appropriate action” over crippling fuel shortages, a crunch point in a two-year financial meltdown that marks Lebanon’s worst crisis since the 1975-90 civil war.

A rocket-propelled grenade was fired near a Beirut petrol station during a dispute over gasoline, a security source said. Gunmen opened fire on soldiers who had detained a man who tried to fill his car by force. The station caught fire.

The steadily worsening fuel crisis has hit a low in the last week, with power blackouts forcing some hospitals, bakeries, and businesses to scale down or close.

A senior U.N. official said water supplies and essential health services were threatened, warning of a humanitarian catastrophe. “A bad situation only stands to get worse unless an instant solution is found,” said Najat Rochdi, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Lebanon.

Last week, the central bank announced it could no longer finance imports of gasoline and diesel at heavily discounted exchange rates, effectively ending a subsidy scheme which promises to increase prices sharply.

Governor Riad Salameh has been at odds with the government over the move, as the government says it should have been done only after the provision of prepaid cash cards for the poor.

Salameh has said he can resume subsidizing imports only if a law is passed allowing him to dip into the mandatory reserves.

The crisis has sparked a renewed push by Lebanon’s squabbling politicians to agree on a cabinet that can start tackling the financial crisis, which has depressed the currency by more than 90%.

“We still have a few meters (yards) left in the race, but god willing we are sorting it out appropriately,” Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati said after meeting with President Michel Aoun on Tuesday.

Despite deepening poverty, Lebanon’s ruling elite have failed to form a new cabinet since Prime Minister Hassan Diab quit after last year’s devastating Beirut port explosion.

The past week has seen repeated violence at gas stations. At least 28 people were killed in northern Lebanon at the weekend when a fuel tanker exploded as people rushed to get a share.

Asked about local media reports of two new diesel shipments carrying 80 million liters imported at the previous subsidized rate of 3,900 Lebanese pounds to the dollar, Salameh said they had been pre-approved in July.

The parallel market rate on Tuesday was 18,500 pounds to the dollar.

Local broadcasters MTV and al-Jadeed had reported on Tuesday that a third shipment of gasoline had been rejected by the central bank. Salameh said it would have to abide by a new circular.

“The new circular will determine the price of sayrafa as a base for the dollar [letter of credit],” he said.

Sayrafa is the central bank’s currency exchange platform.

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, head of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group, said on Sunday it would begin bringing diesel and gasoline from Iran with delivery dates to be announced soon.

(Reporting by Nafisa Eltahir, Laila Bassam, and Tom Perry; Editing by Tom Perry and Mark Heinrich)

Life grinds to a halt in Lebanon’s blackouts

By Nafisa Eltahir and Issam Abdallah

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon’s worsening fuel crisis has reached a painful crunch point, with bakeries, businesses and hospitals either scaling back operations or shutting down completely, making life even harder for Lebanese already enduring a financial meltdown.

As the fuel oil that powers Lebanon has disappeared from the market, Lebanese have sweltered at home in the summer heat without light or AC, routinely tossing out the contents of fridges while having to set aside hours to fill up the car – if increasingly scarce gasoline can be found.

Many say living conditions are worse than during the 1975-90 civil war.

It marks a new low in the financial crisis that erupted in late 2019, the result of decades of corruption and mismanagement by a ruling elite that has failed to find solutions as more than half the population has sunk into poverty.

In the latest policy failure, the government is sparring with the central bank over its decision to end fuel subsidies, a step that would spell sharply higher prices.

While the stand-off continues, importers told Reuters the country faced a huge shortage of fuel.

“During the civil war, even with how horrible it was, there weren’t any power cuts,” said Hassan Khalife, 50, who owns a small barbecue joint near parliament in Beirut.

“The state, which is supposed to take care of its people, is doing the opposite, it’s trying to humiliate us as much as it can,” he said.

Khalife has downgraded from three refrigerators to one, which he powers via a line from a neighbor’s generator that whirrs loudly across the street. “We’ve become used to the sound, it’s like hearing birds or something,” he said.

On Wednesday, Lebanon’s electricity minister told reporters that the country needs 3,000 megawatts of power but only has enough fuel to produce 750. People say they get one or two hours of electricity from the grid per day, if any.

BLACK MARKET

The shortage of fuel, known as mazout, means people can’t run their own generators to fill the gap.

“In the last three days I can’t find mazout at all, neither black market nor white,” says Metri Flouti, who manages generators for buildings in the upscale Ashrafieh neighborhood, and is forced by the heat at home to sleep in his air conditioned office.

Key businesses are having the same problem.

Ali Ibrahim, head of the bakeries union, said some bakeries had been forced to pause this week. “This is people’s food, you can’t play around with it,” he said.

“Hospitals are going day by day, very few have enough for 2 or 3 days,” said Suleiman Haroun, head of the private hospitals union, adding that medical supplies were low and staff lacked petrol to get to work.

Souad Akl, general manager of Alfa Laboratories which produces saline solution and other medical essentials, told Reuters her factory shut down for the first time in almost 50 years this week.

In a city known for its nightlife, Beirut’s downtown and corniche are plunged into darkness, but still draw some escaping the heat at home. “I feel my home is dark, and it gives you depression,” said homemaker Manar Yassine.

She has emptied her fridge and waits to do laundry in the precious hour of electricity from the grid, trying to cut back on generator costs.

Her husband’s once comfortable salary now only covers their generator subscription, internet, and satellite TV. “I look at my kids, and their futures,” she said. “If someone gave us the means to emigrate, of course we would.”

(Additional reporting by Imad Creidi, Writing by Nafisa Eltahir, editing by Tom Perry and Giles Elgood)