Lebanese face cold winter as price of heating oil soars

BEIRUT -- With the country mired in an ongoing economic and political crisis, many in Lebanon are preparing to face a winter without a sufficient supply of heating oil (mazout), because of its exorbitant price.

The price of a 20-litre canister of mazout has steadily increased as a result of the fluctuation in the black market exchange rate with the dollar and recently reached 800,000 LBP (about $21).

At this price, many say they will be unable to provide heat at home.

The relentless increase in the price of mazout, starting last winter, prompted many residents of villages in mountainous areas to turn to firewood, which they purchase or gather from wooded areas.

But this heating method is not sustainable and provides heat for only a limited number of hours, so residents stockpile wood for the very coldest days.

Exacerbating the situation is the organised smuggling of large quantities of mazout to Syria through Hizbullah-controlled border crossings.

Since the onset of the economic and political crisis roiling Lebanon, Hizbullah has smuggled about 100 tankers of fuel a day to Syria.

Prices increase 'by the day'

The mountain town of Mrouj in Metn district has snow every winter, according to local resident Mikhael Roukoz.

Roukoz works at a factory and earns about 2 million LBP ($52) a month -- barely enough to buy food for his wife and four children. He said he is now unable to buy even a single canister of mazout because of its high price, "which increases by the day".

"I used to stockpile mazout for the entire winter, but this season I have to gather firewood from the forest to heat our home for a certain number of hours," he told Al-Mashareq.

"The wood will not be enough to last the entire winter," he said. "I think we will have to rely on blankets to stay warm, a hopeless state of affairs."

Residents of al-Shabbania, a mountain town in the upper Metn district that has harsh winters, normally maintain an ample stockpile of mazout. But with the current high price, the town now faces a major problem.

The economic crisis did not spare the town, where residents are facing exorbitantly high prices for mazout, prompting most of them to turn to firewood, al-Shabbania resident Elias Sarkis said.

Residents used to buy a minimum of 1,000 litres of fuel for the season, but they now buy very small amounts, depending on how much money they have, said Norma Raad, who owns the town's gas station.

Hizbullah's fuel smuggling

The surge in the price of fuel is a crisis for the global economy, not just for Lebanon, economist Antoine Farah said.

If the citizens of wealthy countries are facing a fuel crisis that is slashing their purchasing power, one can imagine the dire situation in Lebanon, he said, pointing to "the stifling financial crisis it is facing".

Many Lebanese will experience electrical blackouts this winter, particularly those who live in remote and mountainous areas, he said, noting that residents of these areas are among the poorest in Lebanon.

Yet Hizbullah continues to smuggle fuel to the Syrian regime, he said, inflicting direct harm on the Lebanese population.

"Sixty percent of the residents of mountainous and remote villages have depended on firewood for heat since last winter," said firewood dealer Elias Nuaimeh, who is based in the town of Qsaibeh in Baabda district, southern Metn.

These areas are seeing an influx of newcomers, as employees dismissed from their jobs in urban areas and professionals who closed their workshops or factories amid the economic crisis return to their home villages, he said.

The majority of Mount Lebanon residents have been stockpiling firewood since last winter, said Nuaimeh, who also distributes firewood to homes in Beirut.