Lebanon’s fuel crisis worsened on Saturday as petrol stations across the country remained closed and drivers slept in the long queues at the few that opened in the hope of buying some of the scarce fuel available.
The shortages persisted a day after a recently formed government announced a 38 per cent price hike on fuel amid confusion on the lifting of subsidies.
“It’s the worst situation now. They increased the price and there is no fuel,” said taxi company owner Toufic Moussa, who drove more than 40 kilometres south of Beirut to the coastal city of Saida to buy fuel on the black market, costing him over four times more than the new official price.
Shortages have caused long queues in front of petrol stations in recent months but drivers said the situation appeared worse on Saturday with even less fuel available.
“We are used to standing in line for a long time but at the end, they filled our tank. Now they give us 20 or 25 litres,” said Mohamed Kreidieh, another taxi driver.
Mr Kreidieh waited in line at a petrol station from 3am to 3pm on Sunday to fill up less than a third of his car's tank. This will only last him a day.
“The situation is very bad. It’s worse than a week ago,” he said.
Over half of the petrol stations in Beirut and towns surrounding it were closed on Saturdays, according to taxi drivers The National spoke to.
This can be explained in part by the General Directorate of Oil’s decision to close fuel delivery companies on Thursday, said George Brax, a spokesman for the station owners’ union, who did not give further details on the move. Lebanese daily L’Orient Le Jour reported the directorate wanted to do an inventory of the country’s fuel stocks.
The Energy Ministry’s decision to hike prices came at noon on Friday, meaning delivery companies, which are closed on the weekend, only had time to operate in the afternoon, Mr Brax told The National.
Lebanon’s top officials, including its central bank governor and president, struck a deal on August 21 to change the dollar exchange rate for fuel imports from 3,900 to 8,000 Lebanese pounds to the dollar, increasing prices at the time by 66 per cent overnight.
The decision, which cost the government $225 million, was expected to remain in place until late September as the cash-strapped central bank attempts to gradually lift subsidies on food, medicine and fuel, that had been put in place at the start of the country’s worst-ever economic crisis in 2019.
The value of Lebanon’s local currency has plummeted in the past two years.
Despite no public announcement by officials, Friday’s move signals a decision by the central bank to shift the exchange rate for fuel imports from 8,000 to 12,000 Lebanese pounds to the dollar, said Mr Brax.
“I believe that subsidies will be totally lifted by the end of the month,” he said. A central bank spokesperson was not available for comment.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported that a tanker laden with 16,000 tonnes of fuel from Iraq had started discharging on Sunday at the state-run power plant of Zahrani after a first batch was unloaded on Sunday in another power plant in north Lebanon.
Lebanon's Energy Ministry announced in late August the purchase of 84,000 tonnes of Iraqi fuel involving a complicated swap deal operated by the Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC).
In parallel, and in a move that was solely organised by Hezbollah, a local political party that also operates a powerful militia, Iranian fuel started arriving by truck from Syria on Friday, despite US sanctions targeting the fuel transfers.
But importers previously told The National that quantities only represent a fraction of the country’s needs.
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati told CNN on Friday that while Hezbollah’s move “makes him sad” because it violates Lebanon’s sovereignty, he is not concerned by US sanctions “because the operation was carried out without the involvement of the Lebanese government”.
Should late investors consider cryptocurrencies?
Wealth managers recommend late investors to have a balanced portfolio that typically includes traditional assets such as cash, government and corporate bonds, equities, commodities and commercial property.
They do not usually recommend investing in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies due to the risk and volatility associated with them.
“It has produced eye-watering returns for some, whereas others have lost substantially as this has all depended purely on timing and when the buy-in was. If someone still has about 20 to 25 years until retirement, there isn’t any need to take such risks,” Rupert Connor of Abacus Financial Consultant says.
He adds that if a person is interested in owning a business or growing a property portfolio to increase their retirement income, this can be encouraged provided they keep in mind the overall risk profile of these assets.
The specs
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Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company Profile
Company name: OneOrder
Started: October 2021
Founders: Tamer Amer and Karim Maurice
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Industry: technology, logistics
Investors: A15 and self-funded
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
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Premier League results
Saturday
Crystal Palace 1 Brighton & Hove Albion 2
Cardiff City 2 West Ham United 0
Huddersfield Town 0 Bournemouth 2
Leicester City 3 Fulham 1
Newcastle United 3 Everton 2
Southampton 2 Tottenham Hotspur 1
Manchester City 3 Watford 1
Sunday
Liverpool 4 Burnley 2
Chelsea 1 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1
Arsenal 2 Manchester United 0
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 620hp from 5,750-7,500rpm
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Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch auto
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Price: From Dh1.05 million ($286,000)
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
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Price: From Dh590,000
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
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Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Top tips
Create and maintain a strong bond between yourself and your child, through sensitivity, responsiveness, touch, talk and play. “The bond you have with your kids is the blueprint for the relationships they will have later on in life,” says Dr Sarah Rasmi, a psychologist.
Set a good example. Practise what you preach, so if you want to raise kind children, they need to see you being kind and hear you explaining to them what kindness is. So, “narrate your behaviour”.
Praise the positive rather than focusing on the negative. Catch them when they’re being good and acknowledge it.
Show empathy towards your child’s needs as well as your own. Take care of yourself so that you can be calm, loving and respectful, rather than angry and frustrated.
Be open to communication, goal-setting and problem-solving, says Dr Thoraiya Kanafani. “It is important to recognise that there is a fine line between positive parenting and becoming parents who overanalyse their children and provide more emotional context than what is in the child’s emotional development to understand.”
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Company profile
Company name: Dharma
Date started: 2018
Founders: Charaf El Mansouri, Nisma Benani, Leah Howe
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: TravelTech
Funding stage: Pre-series A
Investors: Convivialite Ventures, BY Partners, Shorooq Partners, L& Ventures, Flat6Labs
Scoreline:
Everton 4
Richarlison 13'), Sigurdsson 28', Digne 56', Walcott 64'
Manchester United 0
Man of the match: Gylfi Sigurdsson (Everton)
BRIEF SCORES
England 228-7, 50 overs
N Sciver 51; J Goswami 3-23
India 219, 48.4 overs
P Raut 86, H Kaur 51; A Shrubsole 6-46
England won by nine runs
