Syria raised diesel prices by 40% on Saturday and increased gasoline prices by as much as 28%, triggering protests across several parts of the country within a day. According to OilPrice.com, demonstrators blocked the highway linking Damascus and Aleppo and burned tires on the road leading toward Turkey.
The publication described the unrest as the broadest seen since the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. Protests were also reported in Hama, Khan Sheikhoun, and Maarat al-Numan. At the same time, tanker convoys carrying crude to refineries were halted on their routes.
Under the new pricing, diesel now costs 175 Syrian pounds per liter, while household and industrial gas prices climbed by roughly 9%. Syria’s Energy Ministry said the increase was a “temporary measure driven by higher global procurement costs,” ministry spokesperson Abdulhamid Salat said.
Syria produces about 102,000 barrels of oil a day, against domestic demand of roughly 325,000 barrels, according to the country’s energy minister. Damascus has been covering part of that gap this year by importing about 60,000 barrels a day of Russian crude. The report says Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries have reduced that output, prompting Moscow to restrict diesel and gasoline exports and tightening supplies to Syria just as domestic refining capacity has fallen.
The Baniyas refinery, Syria’s largest, was shut this month for a three-month overhaul. It is the first comprehensive maintenance project since Assad’s fall. Syrian Petroleum Company says the work is expected to raise the plant’s capacity from 80,000 barrels a day to 130,000 barrels a day.
The UN Development Programme estimates that 90% of Syrians now live below the poverty line, up from about one-third before the 2011 civil war.
The article also says the United States has backed a $5.7-billion, 1,000-mile Basra-to-Baniyas pipeline project led by Chevron, with TotalEnergies and Syrian and Qatari investors involved. U.S. envoy Tom Barrack said the line is intended to carry 2 million barrels a day and make the Strait of Hormuz a less critical route.
Meanwhile, under an interim arrangement that began in April, Iraqi refineries are already trucking roughly 5,000 tankers of crude to Baniyas each day. Damascus has also retaken oil and gas fields in Deir ez-Zor and Hasakah from Kurdish-led forces this year, which could reduce Russia’s remaining foothold in Syrian energy even as the Baniyas overhaul continues to squeeze near-term supply.
