Beirut in darkness, November 19, 2022. (Photo: REUTERS/Issam Abdallah)
BEIRUT — Algeria will 'immediately' supply fuel to Lebanon to operate the country’s power plants and ensure the supply of electricity, the Algerian state radio announced on Sunday, as reported by Reuters. It comes as Lebanon is currently experiencing a complete state-provided electricity blackout, after exhausting the fuel reserves allocated to the country’s power plants.
The last operational production unit at the Zahrani power plant in the south was shut down on Saturday. However, it had been announced earlier in the morning on Sunday that the supply to this plant had been secured by nearby oil facilities, while the outgoing Minister of Energy had stated that it would be back in operation by midnight - but operating at lower capacity.
The press office of Prime Minister Najib Mikati confirmed the Algerian initiative, which was announced during a phone call between Mr. Mikati and Algerian Prime Minister Nadir Larbaoui. During this conversation, Larbaoui informed his Lebanese counterpart that, following instructions from Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, unspecified quantities of oil would be 'immediately supplied to Lebanon' to help it overcome the current crisis. The Grand Serail reported that Mr. Mikati thanked the Algerian president for this initiative, as well as his Algerian counterpart 'for Algeria’s continuous support to Lebanon in all areas.'
The outgoing Minister of Energy, Walid Fayad, also spoke with his Algerian counterpart, Mohammad Arkab, who announced his intention to provide a "donation" of fuel "in a manner to be agreed upon during talks to be finalized between the two parties."
As of now, no details were available regarding the importation modalities or the quantities of fuel that will be supplied from Algeria. L’Orient Today attempted, unsuccessfully, to contact the Grand Serail and the Ministry of Energy.
On Sunday evening, Électricité du Liban (EDL) confirmed that its board of directors had met in the morning, under the chairmanship of Kamal Hayek, and had agreed to supply 5,000 kiloliters of fuel from the Zahrani oil facilities, as well as to pay for a shipment of gas oil "as part of a public tender" to supply EDL. The public institution announced that it would restart the Zahrani power plant once again "based on the fuel stocks available," prioritizing, for the time being, the supply of "vital infrastructure in Lebanon."
Until 2020, Lebanon’s power plants were supplied by Algeria under an agreement with its national oil company Sonatrach. This agreement was suspended after suspicions of Sonatrach’s subsidiary’s involvement in the so-called 'adulterated fuel' scandal. In April 2020, Electricité du Liban (EDL) reported to the judiciary that the Algerian public company Sonatrach had delivered defective fuel a month earlier. Following the outcry caused by this case, Sonatrach informed Beirut that it would not renew its fuel import contract with EDL after its expiration on December 31, 2020
