12 February 2011

BEIRUT: Caretaker Water and Energy Minister Jibran Bassil finally issued the weekly updates of oil commodities prices Friday, which prompted the association of oil importing companies to announce their decision to supply the market with its gasoline needs Saturday on condition that the updates come out on a regular basis in the future.

“Energy firms will not get involved in the political wrangling between the ministries of finance and energy, and they will supply gas stations with gasoline on Saturday,” the president of the association of oil importing companies Maroun Chammas said during a news conference held Friday to announce his decision.

Bassil refrained from sending the weekly updates of gasoline prices to fuel importers and gas stations two weeks ago, in an effort to put pressure on the government to cut fuel prices.

This move has prompted caretaker Finance Minister Raya Hassan to ask the permission of President Michel Sleiman and caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri to cut the prices of gasoline by LL5,000 for 20 liters in an attempt to keep in check the spiraling rise of oil.

However, the deadlock in Lebanon’s Cabinet formation prevented Hassan’s decision from taking effect and the market was badly affected by the uncertainty of price cuts.

“The market was badly affected during the past two weeks due to the unavailability of the weekly price  updates and the absence of a firm decision regarding the price cuts proposed by the ministries of energy and finance,” he said.

The announcement of [caretaker] minister Hassan of her attempt to reduce the price of gasoline created confusion in the market because some of the stations resorted to selling their stocks for them to avoid any losses.

Moreover, citizens have also cut back on their purchases of gasoline, waiting for serious action to be taken in this regard.

Furthermore, gas stations have only been purchasing their daily requirements of gasoline for the past two weeks. They refrained from purchasing their weekly needs, fearing of any sudden price cuts.

During the conference, Chammas called upon officials to find the right solution to the current situation, saying that energy firms won’t be able to pursue their work if other similar problems take place in the future.

“We call upon the concerned authorities to decide on the price cuts as soon as possible because the political bickering has negatively impacted our imports activities,” Chammas added.

Bassil maintained the same 95 and 98 octane gasoline prices of the week before, without adding LL200 and LL100 respectively on the 20 liters of each kind.

The statement issued by the Ministry of Energy Friday said the minister refrained from increasing the prices of gasoline as a temporary measure, waiting for an action to be taken by the higher council of customs to reduce the prices on octane 95 and 98 based on the decree 12,480, which was issued in 2004 following a law published in 2001.

The statement added that the only objective of the Ministry of Energy is the reduction of gasoline prices adding that the only legal way to implement this decision in the absence of a government is by sticking to the decree number 12,480.

Meanwhile, Hassan said – during a news conference on the same day – that she had suggested cutting the price of gasoline by LL5,000 because of the international hike in oil prices and because people would struggle to afford any further increases.

“This will certainly affect the treasury but we have to take this step in order to improve citizens’ social situation,” she said.

She criticized Bassil for not sending the updates two weeks ago, saying that his move has had a negative effect on the market.

“The association of oil importing companies informed me that the gasoline quantity may not even last for the two coming days,” she added.

For his part, president of the gas stations association Sami Braks praised the position of energy firms on this issue, noting that gas stations will work with them in parallel.

“We will be coordinating with energy firms on any decision that comes up in case the updates are not issued next Wednesday,” he said.

Also, the gas stations association announced in a statement that some of the stations stopped supplying citizens with gasoline due to a shortage Friday. – The Daily Star

Copyright The Daily Star 2011.