Fuel pump nozzle at a gas station in Lebanon. (Credit: João Sousa/L'Orient-Le Jour)
The president of the Union of Gas Station Owners, Georges Brax, painted a grim outlook for fuel prices in Lebanon on Friday, following another surge in global oil prices and unprecedented rates at the pump. This abrupt increase is due to the expansion of the conflict in the Middle East toward the Red Sea and ongoing disruptions of maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.
"We are heading for the worst regarding fuel prices and, unfortunately, we expect further significant increases in the short term," the union leader told Lebanese channel MTV. In its biweekly price update, the Energy Ministry announced Friday morning an increase of 52,000 Lebanese liras (LL) for diesel, and LL49,000 for a 20-liter can of 95- and 98-octane gasoline.
Globally, the price of crude oil had not been this high since May, just before a lull in the Middle East and the signing of a memorandum of understanding in June between Iran and the United States to end the conflict.
Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, closed Thursday at $107.63, a jump of 6.34% from the previous day and more than 20% since hostilities resumed. The American benchmark, WTI, finished at $102.48, soaring 6.69% in a single session.
Concerns intensified after the announcement that the pro-Iranian Houthis had taken control of Mokha, a city on the Red Sea — a major step in their advance toward the strategic Bab al-Mandeb strait, which they were reportedly controlling Friday, according to a government official. This passage connecting Asia and Europe has gained importance for the oil trade with the closure of Hormuz on the other side of the peninsula.
