Syria (North Press)- Samer Arnaoi, a 60-year-old man from Jaramana District in Rif Dimashq, is forced to queue for a long time in a gas station to fill his vehicle, even after midnight.
About a week ago, a fuel crisis worsened in the Syrian regions under the control of the government, leading to lines of vehicles sometimes over a kilometer long at gas stations.
Government action
Mustafa Haswiya, general manager of the Fuel Directorate, denied in late August in a statement to the official government newspaper Tishreen that there was a shortage of gasoline.
Haswiya posited that the reason for overcrowding at gas stations was the end of the tourist season and people’s desire to visit the coast before the start of the school year.
However, Arnaoi refuted this, saying, “If it was true, then why did we not witness this severe crisis during the height of the summer season? Today, movement inside and outside cities has become light despite the start of the opening of schools.”
Another Syrian government-affiliated newspaper, al-Watan, quoted a source in the Ministry of Oil two days ago who stated that the quantity of gasoline for private cars had been reduced from 40 liters to 30 liters, but that this was only a temporary measure until more gasoline becomes available.

Searching for other job opportunities
In Aleppo, drivers say that they have begun to think of looking for another job due to the difficulty of obtaining quantities of gasoline sufficient for their work, in addition to issuing a circular prohibiting unofficial sales of gasoline.
On August 21, the SADCOP (a general fuel distribution company) branch in Aleppo issued a decision to stop unauthorized sales at gas stations and to limit refilling to a smart card only.
Ali Atrash, a driver from Aleppo city, said that he only works for five hours per day because his daily allowance is ten liters, and it is not sufficient to work seven hours a day.
In this case, he will have to stop his work as a taxi driver and look for another job in order to provide for his five children. He added, “I cannot secure gas every day because of the overcrowding that forces me to spend nearly an entire day between gas stations to get only ten liters in the end.”
Atrash pointed out that his monthly allowance of 350 liters is not sufficient for his taxi to work for a whole month, and that the circular banning unauthorized sales of gasoline is evidence of its lack of availability.
North Press tried to contact the administration of SADCOP in Aleppo, but they refused to comment on the shortage of gasoline and diesel in the city.
However, the company’s director, Saed Baik, previously said to North Press that Aleppo had witnessed a shortage benzene due to a technical failure in the Baniyas refinery in Latakia.
Baik promised to solve the problem by August 13, but the crisis has only worsened in recent weeks.
Ali Samra, who owns a fuel station on the Latakia-Tartus line, said that the quantities allocated to his station “have not been reduced, but have arrived at various dates without explanation by the Fuel Directorate.”
He added that columns of cars are coming and waiting for a long time due to the late arrival of gasoline. Some car owners parked their cars near the station, fearing they would run out of fuel.
Black market
Yamen Alouni, who lives near a fuel station in the village of Hmeimim in the Jableh region, said that the quantities that are sent to some stations are sold on the black market.
He added, “There are gasoline owners who have been smuggling fuel to neighboring areas in Hama and Idlib for months.”
He concluded that “the station is opened for a few hours when there are monitoring committees, and then it is closed and the remaining quantities are traded, and gasoline sellers can be seen on the roads and in more than one city.”