Thursday, December 11, 2003
Iraq imposes petrol rationing to deal with fuel shortage
Agence France-Presse Baghdad, December 11
Iraq imposed petrol rationing on Wednesday as it stepped up efforts to cope with a shortage of fuel in the country with the world's second largest oil reserves, the oil ministry said.
"Each driver can have only 50 litres, at the price of 20 dinars (one cent) each litre," Iraq's oil ministry spokesman Asem Jihad said. However, in Mosul drivers were being limited to half that amount.
Jihad said gas station operators who sell petrol to the black market will face lengthy jail terms under a new law.
Motorists say the gas station queues, some as long as three km, have become increasingly common since the Muslim holy month of Ramadan ended in late November.
Jihad said that because of the oil shortage, interim oil minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulum has cancelled a trip to Cairo where he was to meet with Arab oil ministers.
Jihad said Iraq was suffering only a temporary shortage of oil and not a crisis.
He said that an agreement between the oil and electricity ministries will ensure day and night power for pumps at 24 Baghdad gas stations in another measure aimed at addressing the problem.
© Hindustan Times Ltd. 2003.