Iraqis fed up with long gas lines, higher prices

BAGHDAD, Iraq: Long lines at the gas pump are a fact of life in post-war Baghdad. But recent price hikes and three-hour waits caused by a refinery shutdown are causing tempers to flare for Iraqis trying to fill up their cars or run home generators. Iraq’s oil minister yesterday announced his resignation over the situation. The country’s largest oil refinery stopped production December 18 because tanker truck drivers refused to make deliveries across Iraq’s dangerous desert roads, crippling supplies country-wide. Although Iraq is awash in oil, it has little refining capacity. To make matters worse, the Cabinet raised gas prices between five- and seven-fold on the same day the Beiji plant went offline. The price hikes and shortages have led to protests in many cities around Iraq and riots in northern oil-rich Kirkuk - where police shot and killed four protesters Sunday who took part in a riot over high fuel prices. The demonstrators burned down a fuel station.

“Yesterday, it took me about three hours in a line four kilometres long to fill up my car with 50 litres, instead of 80 litres, the real capacity of my car, because of the expensive prices,” said Salah Adnan, an employee with the Ministry of Education in Baghdad. The long lines have become a common headache for Iraqis, and customers have been allowed to buy only a rationed amount, leaving families who need to both drive and run electricity producing generators at home with a tough choice. Private gas stations in Basra have closed, leaving only the government-run station to sell fuel. “I closed my station until the end of the crisis,” said Mohammed Shakir. “Assaults, shootings and the burning of tyres are too common.” Some stations in Basra are now open 24 hours to try to make up for the closures. “We work day and night, but the crowds keep coming. Some people use violence and force to get fuel, which makes our work very difficult,” said Sami Mehdi, a worker at a gas station in Basra, Iraq’s second-largest city, 550 kilometres southeast of Baghdad.

In Kirkuk, about 300 people protested the price hike again yesterday. In Tikrit, some people have spent the night near gas stations in order to fill up before long lines form. Many in Iraq have been forced to buy gas off the black market, avoiding the long lines but paying prices that are some 60 percent higher than the highest station prices. Fuel prices have long been subsidised in Iraq and are still low compared with much of the world, but it was the sudden percentage increase that caused Iraqis hardships. The price of a litre of imported and super gasoline last month was raised to 17 cents, a fivefold increase. There are about 3.8 litres in a gallon, meaning the new price is about 65 cents a gallon. The price of locally produced gasoline was raised about sevenfold to about 12 cents per litre, or about 46 cents a gallon. Oil Minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum said yesterday he resigned after the government last week gave him a forced vacation and replaced him with Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi.

Bahr Al-Uloum said he resigned because of the price hike. “This decision will not serve the benefit of the government and the people. This decision brings an extra burden on the shoulders of citizens and caused an increase in the prices of all essential materials,” he said. The Council of Ministers said yesterday that the Beiji refinery resumed supplying Baghdad and other cities after taking security precautions for drivers. The ministry also denied that there would be further price increase, a rumour running through the country. “We started to supply the tankers with oil products after the government promised to secure them along the highways,” Ahmed Ibrahim Hamadi, the director of distribution at the Beiji refinery, said. The decision came after the Iraqi army sent more troops to guard the tanker trucks, officials said. Persistent acts of sabotage to northern oil exports facilities prevented Iraq from resuming exports for most of last year, with exports flowing on only a few days. In the oil-rich south, only 34.4 million barrels were exported in December, the lowest average since Iraq resumed oil exports after the US-led invasion in March 2003.