Iraqi Kurdistan fuel shortage may end within ‘two months’
Shafaq News- Al-Sulaymaniyah
Iraqi Kurdistan’s Al-Sulaymaniyah faces a daily gasoline shortfall of about 4 million liters during summer, with demand reaching 7 million liters against only 3 million currently available, Fox refinery owner Sardar Haji Khalid said on Monday.
Speaking at a press conference, Khalid predicted that the city’s gasoline price crisis would end within two months, describing the shortage as part of wider regional supply pressure that stopped informal gasoline transfers from other Iraqi provinces to Erbil and Al-Sulaymaniyah.
Fuel-station owners’ spokesperson Bahman Abdul Qadir separately cautioned that prices would decline only after regional conditions improved and urging residents not to expect immediate relief.
Read more: Public transport drivers seek cheaper fuel in Al-Sulaymaniyah
The Kurdistan Regional Government capped commercial regular gasoline at 850 dinars (USD 0.65) per liter and maintained government-supplied gasoline at 750 dinars (USD 0.57), but shortages have left many stations closed or operating with limited quantities, producing long vehicle queues. Before the latest price controls, regular gasoline exceeded 1,300 dinars (USD 0.99) per liter in parts of the Region, while improved gasoline reached about 1,750 dinars (USD 1.34) and super gasoline around 2,000 dinars (USD 1.53).
The Kurdistan Region retains 50,000 barrels of crude production per day for local consumption under its oil arrangements with Baghdad, but officials and lawmakers say available fuel quantities remain insufficient to meet demand.
