A cluster of generators, which run on diesel fuel, on a Beirut street. (Credit: Reuters)
BEIRUT — The spokesperson for the Fuel Distributors’ Syndicate, Fadi Abou Chakra, the head of the Association of Petroleum Importing Companies, Maroun Chammas, and representatives for private generator owners told L’Orient Today Monday that the fuel market has seen shortages of diesel for at least one week.
Here’s what we know:
• Abou Chakra told L’Orient Today that diesel has been in short supply for about a week now due to high demand brought on by recent low temperatures, as most people who live in the colder regions of Lebanon use diesel to heat their homes and businesses. Abou Chakra also said that a shipment of diesel should arrive in Lebanon “soon.”
• Chamas confirmed to L’Orient Today the shortages described by Abou Chakra, and said that the cold and stormy weather has made it difficult to offload diesel cargo being imported to Lebanon. Chamas also said that as the Lebanese lira gained value on the parallel market against the dollar, many fuel distributors and gas stations began hoarding fuel in expectation of another crash in the lira’s value, which would increase the price of fuel. He added that a ship will offload 100 million liters of diesel “in the next 48 hours.”
• “Lots of private generator owners are struggling from the scarcity of diesel in all areas of Lebanon since two weeks,” Abdo Saade, a spokesperson for generator owners in Lebanon told L’Orient Today.
• Speaking to L’Orient Today, Bassam Hamzeh, a generator owner in the Aley area, said that last week, diesel was scarce on his end but now, after the latest increase in the prices of fuel, the supply is back to normal. “It was short on the market, but it was never out,” he said.