Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq has begun importing its first batch of gasoline through Syria, an Iraqi oil source told Shafaq News on Friday, with the first shipments arriving at the Syrian port of Baniyas for onward transport by tanker truck.

Loading onto the trucks has begun ahead of their departure for Iraq, the source said, adding that the quantities, the supplier, and the route into the country would become clear once the transport is complete.

Baghdad and several Iraqi provinces have faced a gasoline shortage for weeks, after a brief easing last month, with long queues at filling stations and dozens of outlets closing. Earlier this month, Oil Minister Basim Mohammed Khudair said the ministry was working to fix the shortfall and that new shipments would arrive soon.

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