Eurasia Press & News
The Syrian Petroleum Company ended the unloading of the tanker “GAS MILANO” loaded with about 2700 metric tons of liquefied gas in its tanks in Baniyas, on Saturday, February 21.
It began supplying the tanks with the material to be transferred to the provinces, according to Enab Baladi’s correspondent in Tartus.
The company did not announce the source of the shipment, at a time when the Syrian markets have recently witnessed a crisis in the availability of the material.
Energy: Domestic gas supplies continue
The Director of Information at the Ministry of Energy, Abdul Hamid Salat, confirmed that the supplies of domestic gas material are continuing normally, pointing out that Syria is supplied with about 350 tons per day through Jordan, in parallel with the continued operation of the filling plants at full production capacity without any interruption.
The GAS HUSKY carrier also arrived on Saturday afternoon and will connect and unload directly to complete supplies and boost inventory.
He explained that the congestion in some areas is due to the increase in demand since the beginning of the month of Ramadan.
He stressed that there is no interruption in the material, and full stability is expected to return to normal on Monday or Tuesday at the latest.
He called on the Director of Information in the Ministry of Energy not to store or buy larger quantities of need, and not to be dragged behind the black market, pointing out that some weak souls exploit the increase in demand to raise prices.
Salat said that the concerned authorities conduct intensive control patrols to strengthen control and combat these practices and ensure the arrival of the material at the regular price.
The reality of the availability of domestic gas in the provinces
The crisis of obtaining household gas canisters continues in several areas of Syria, according to what Enab Baladi monitored from its correspondents in Damascus, its countryside, Aleppo, Daraa, Deir Ezzor, Latakia and Hama.
In Damascus, residents have difficulty collecting household gas canisters, some of whom are forced to turn to the black market, where the price of the package has exceeded the ceiling of 200,000 Syrian pounds, or about $ 17.
In the countryside of Damascus, too, residents face the same problem, while the price of the package from the authorized is about 125,000 pounds, equivalent to 10.6 dollars, some of them are forced to pay 160,000 pounds, or about $ 13.6, especially the owners of restaurants, according to Enab Baladi’s correspondent.
The situation in Aleppo is similar to Damascus, where Enab Baladi contacted several people who confirmed that they had not distributed the gas material for days, and that citizens could not collect the gas canister, indicating that it was lost in the market.
According to Enab Baladi’s correspondents in Aleppo, the price of a gas canister on the black market reached between 145,000 and 200,000 lira, or between $ 12.4 and $ 17.
The quantities of gas are abundant in the province of Hama, at the sellers on the black market, while they are available in small quantities to the accredited, according to Enab Baladi correspondent.
Enab Baladi’s correspondent in Deir ez-Zor said that the province is also suffering from a crisis in the collection of gas canisters.
The reporter quoted one of the accredited that the gas distributor did not give them increased bottles, due to the high demand for gas, after the government took control of the eastern side of the Euphrates River, and the withdrawal of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) from it in the month of January.
In Latakia, the price of a gas canister stabilized in the reality of 120,000 Syrian pounds, or about $10.2, as the province did not witness a severe crisis in the collection of material, as in the rest of the Syrian regions, according to the reporter.
What is the cause of the crisis?
For its part, the Ministry of Energy said in a statement on February 16 that the crisis came as a result of bad weather during the past days, as there was a temporary delay in the operations of linking and unloading the gas ship in the port, which was reflected on the availability of domestic gas in some areas.
The ministry confirmed that the linkage work has been completed, and pumping operations have begun gradually, with the quantities received to be reflected successively on the distribution centers in various governorates in the coming hours.
She pointed out that the domestic gas material will be available in a stable manner, in all areas, with the beginning of the month of Ramadan, pointing out that what happened was a temporary logistical circumstance that was addressed.
Offers to boost storage capacity
The Syrian Petroleum Company announced, on February 17, the unloading of 4,000 tons of the oil ship’s campaign of “LPG” in the downstream tanks in accordance with the approved technical procedures, and then start pumping and distribution operations to the distribution centers to ensure the stability of supplies and meet the needs.
She pointed to the attraction of offers from specialized companies to implement projects to establish additional tanks for LPG in order to enhance storage capacity and raise operational readiness during the next phase.
