In response to what was stated in the statement of the “Progressive Socialist Party”, the Ministry of Energy and Water issued the following statement: “The Ministry of Energy and Water received the questions of the “Progressive Socialist Party” about the Iraqi oil contract with great astonishment, since the party’s deputies, ministers close to it, and experts affiliated with it, are surrounded by all Governmental discussions and the oil exchange mechanism since the signing of the contract in the summer of 2021.
It finds it its duty to answer inquiries and questions and place it in the custody of public opinion, confirming what is certain and a reminder of the mechanism of agreement with the sisterly government of Iraq, which provided, thankfully, for the Lebanese people an electric supply of approximately four hours a day, at the height of the power outage crisis and prevents most of the political forces represented in the House of Representatives, And led by the Socialist Party, on approving an advance to the Electricity Corporation to provide electricity to the Lebanese:
1- The Socialist Party realizes that the contract with Iraq provides for the delivery of shipments of high-sulfur fuel oil to Lebanon, the annual quantity of which amounted to one million tons, before the Iraqi government announced on Wednesday an increase of half a million tons, after talks conducted by the Minister of Energy and Water, Dr. Walid Fayyad, in Baghdad late last week.
2- It must be recalled that high-sulfur fuel oil cannot be used in power stations operating in Lebanon without refining, which forced Lebanon and Iraq to exchange it for usable fuel that meets the specifications for operating power stations, with the help of oil companies according to a transparent tender that takes into account the conditions of the new public procurement law.
3- It is normal for the quantity that arrives in Lebanon to drop to half the quantity, given the existence of a difference in international prices between the price of heavy fuel oil and gas oil (i.e. diesel), as the price of a ton, according to the Platts International Gas Oil platform, is about $750, while the price of a ton is about $750. Ton of high sulfur fuel oil (HSFO) less than 350 d. As well as the cost of two-way transportation of the two materials.
And while the Ministry considers it its duty to clarify the inquiries, it believes that it was rather for the “Progressive Socialist Party” to verify and clarify before throwing accusations at us haphazardly in the media. “.
