The largest refinery in Syria was closed after the Iranian oil flow stopped
reported by Mehr News According to the Financial Times, Syria’s largest refinery has closed its operations following the cessation of receiving crude oil from Iran, Iran was the largest supplier of Syrian oil before the recent developments.
Ebrahim Moslem, CEO of Syria’s Banias Refinery, said that this refinery has a capacity of between 90,000 and 100,000 barrels per day. It has produced its last gasoline on Friday.
He said that this refinery is in the stage of repairs and maintenance, which will take some time and will resume its activities as soon as the required oil is available.
Moslem continued that the new Syrian government has promised to lift sanctions and import oil from sources other than Iran.
The lack of oil is one of the biggest challenges facing the Syrian interim government. The US Secretary of State announced on Tuesday that fuel shortage is one of Syria’s urgent needs that must be resolved.
In recent years, Bashar al-Assad’s government imported 90% of its crude oil from Iran, and the remaining 10% was produced from Syria’s oil resources.
Syria is facing severe power shortages and blackouts due to the lack of fuel for its power plants, except for the Idlib region, which receives its electricity from Turkey.