The Zouk Mosbeh power plant in Kesrouan. (Credit: Philippe Hage Boutros/L’Orient-Le Jour)
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamad Chia Al-Soudani announced on Saturday that his country will supply fuel to Lebanon for a period of six months. During a phone call with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Soudani stated that he would grant the Iraqi Ministry of Oil an exemption to supply Lebanon with fuel for six months, according to his press office.
The Iraqi Prime Minister also praised Berri’s active role on the Lebanese political scene and his rejection of the ongoing Israeli criminal attacks, particularly the events that occurred yesterday in southern Beirut suburbs. He considered the Israeli strikes, which targeted the suburbs of the capital for the first time since the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah was established, as part of Israel’s attempts to “reimpose war.”
A fuel supply contract has been concluded between Lebanon and Iraq as part of the agreement signed in the summer of 2021, which has been renewed since then. This agreement stipulates that Iraq, through SOMO (the public agency responsible for marketing Iraqi oil), will provide a monthly shipment of crude oil to a third-party company, which, in return, delivers an amount of fuel compatible with Lebanon’s Electricité du Liban (EDL) power plants, with the value equivalent to the crude oil received.
On Feb. 12, Joe Saddi, the Minister of Energy and Water in the government of Nawaf Salam, signed the renewal of this agreement. The new extension, which took effect on March 1, involves a quantity ranging from 1.5 to 2 million tons over a year, which is 500,000 tons more than the amount specified in the previous contract.
Recently, EDL had rationed its supply due to a delay in the delivery of the last fuel shipment expected under the barter agreement between Iraq and Lebanon.
Lebanon’s electricity sector is hindered by structural gaps and insufficient capacity to meet the country’s needs, which relies on private generator owners for additional power supply.
Humanitarian convoy reaches Rmeish, Ain Ibl, Dibil despite obstacles