Baghdad continues to provide Lebanon with fuel shipments

The Lebanese Minister of Energy and Water, Walid Fayad, announced on Thursday that the Iraqi government agreed to deliver fuel shipments to Lebanon despite Beirut’s inability to pay its financial obligations to Baghdad.

Lebanese media reported that Fayad received a phone call from the director of Iraq’s State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO), who informed him that the Iraqi Prime Minister had approved the delivery of two fuel shipments to two power plants in Lebanon.

This comes after the Lebanese Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, spoke with the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, and after Fayad contacted the Iraqi Minister of Oil, Hayan Abdul-Ghani, and other Iraqi authorities to address the crisis of fuel dues and help Lebanon avoid blackouts.

The Lebanese Minister of Energy and Water mentioned earlier that SOMO had suspended unloading petroleum tankers exported to Lebanon due to late payments.

Fayad further stated that the Bank of Lebanon has ceased transferring payments for oil supplies to the Iraqi government for the fifth month in a row.