Manufacturers to store fuel
imports in State facilities

Measure results in 20 percent savings

on annual imports of 120,000 tons

The Association of Industrialists has signed an agreement with the Ministry of Energy and Water allowing manufacturers to store their imports of gas oil (diesel fuel), currently amounting to 120,000 tons per year, in the ministry’s oil storage facilities in Tripoli.

This deal allows industrialists to get their fuel from one source instead of purchasing it from several suppliers and will also enable them to save around 20 percent on their fuel costs, said Walid Fayad, caretaker Minister of Energy and Water.

The agreement stipulates that the management and employees of the oil storage facilities will be in charge of unloading the diesel fuel from ships, storing it, and loading it on tanker trucks which will distribute it to the manufacturers. This will have a positive impact on the manufacturers’ production cost and boost the competitiveness of their products and all these services will be provided against an annual fee of $1.5 million, Fayad said. This agreement was made possible thanks to the decision of the Council of Ministers to allow the industrialists to import their own needs of gas oil, he said.

Manufacturers and businesses in other economic sectors have been increasingly facing rising fuel costs after the government lifted the price subsidies on fuels and other basic products. Businesses are also suffering from higher electricity costs after the surge in the tariff of Électricité du Liban besides salary adjustments and rising global prices of raw materials.