Syria says will import more fuel to cover shortfalls caused by sanctions

Syria says will import more fuel to cover shortfalls caused by sanctions

'We have become dependant on imported oil and we have used up foreign currency in large amounts to pay for petroleum products,' Arnous told deputies in a speech to Parliament







Reuters

, Monday 18 Jan 2021







FILE PHOTO: Motorists line up at a gasoline station as they wait to fuel up in Aleppo, Syria April 11, 2019. (Photo: Reuters)













Syria said on Sunday it would import more crude oil to cover fuel shortages it blames on Western sanctions that disrupted regular Iranian oil shipments that had for years compensated for the country's loss of domestic oil production as a result of conflict.

The sanction-hit country has over the past year faced months of gasoline and fuel shortages, forcing it to ration supplies distributed across government-held areas and to apply several rounds of steep price hikes.

Prime Minister Hussein Arnous did not specify how Syria would secure extra supplies but said they had already imported 1.2 million tonnes of Iranian crude oil that cost along with petroleum products in the last six months around $820 million.

The shortages worsened after seven oil tankers on their way