DAMASCUS, April 18 (Xinhua) -- As Syria is suffering from lack of diesel, people in the capital Damascus and elsewhere in the country are spending long hours waiting to fill their cars.
People are now waiting between six and 12 hours to get 20 liters of diesel with long lines of cars seen around the gas stations in Damascus.
Some people are even sleeping in their cars while waiting for their turn amid a severe shortage of the material in the country, which is blamed on the U.S. sanctions.
In al-Mazzeh area west of Damascus, three gas stations are jam-packed with hundreds of cars.
Those who are waiting to have their cars refilled are now seen talking and chatting with each other.
Just like developing a friendship in a school or university, people make friends at gas stations.
"This fuel crisis is so harsh. I have been waiting for 12 hours to fill my car with 20 liters of fuel according to a new regulation," said Muhammad, a taxi driver.
The 40-year-old man said the long time waiting in line made him meet other taxi drivers.
"We chat and exchange stories to kill time. Despite this negative situation, the positive thing is that I am having new friends every day," he said.
Naji, a 50-year-old engineer, was also waiting. This time, he brought playing card decks and he and three other car owners were playing while in line.
"If I was to remain in my car and wait for eight or 12 hours, I would surely lose my mind. But this way, I can turn this negative situation into a less annoying one," he said.
With this steep fuel crisis in the country, the rush hour in the capital has disappeared with few cars are seen here and there.
A day earlier, the pro-government al-Watan newspaper said in a report that no fuel tanker has entered the country over the past six months, adding that the monthly fee to secure the fuel needs is estimated at 200 million U.S. dollars.
It said that at present, Syria needs 4.5 million liters of gasoline, 6 million liters of diesel, 7,000 tons of fuel, and 1,200 tons of gas a month.
In the areas that have been liberated by the rebels, the production of fuel is only 24,000 barrels per day while the country needs 136,000 barrels a day.
The fuel crisis is the result of the renewed U.S. sanctions on Syria, which were tightened through the latest set of sanctions imposed on the country in March of 2019.
The sanctions covered the ships that were bringing fuel to Syria since 2016 in a bid to further suffocate the country economically.
Moreover, the halt of the Iranian credit line to Syria six months ago was a main cause to the fuel shortage, according to the newspaper. Since that time, the country has become in need of massive liquidity to cover for halting the Iranian credit line.
As a result, the country has suffered over the past six months to secure fuel as the costs are a huge challenge.
As part of the efforts to resolve the crisis, the government has resorted to importers to strike deals and secure the oil derivatives, but such contracts were hindered due to "logistic reasons," according to al-Watan.
The newspaper said that the U.S. intervention has hindered a number of deals with Jordan.
Now, the work is ongoing to cover 50 percent of the country's needs of fuel, said the newspaper, adding that bringing fuel from Iraq is also hard, as the neighboring country is also subject to sanctions.
The work in the next phase is to resume the Iranian credit line, find solutions to deliver the oil derivatives to Syria, secure the needed liquidity, and boost the oil importation by land.
