The General Directorate of Petroleum asked the Omani Oil Company, which handles the transfer of Iraqi fuel to Lebanon for the benefit of Électricité du Liban (EDL), to delay sending ships to Lebanon, pending the renewal of the letter of financial guarantees to pay the total value of one million tons of petroleum oil, amounting to $437 million.
The renewal of this letter of guarantees by the Ministry of Finance is awaiting a decision on the issue of concluding the contract agreement with Iraq in the Lebanese parliament. The Ministry of Finance also asked that the issue must be handled by the government as well, which would require a cabinet meeting.
Energy Minister Walid Fayyad does not see the need for what the Ministry of Finance is calling for.
When the contract was completed for the first time with Iraq under the mandate of Minister Raymond Ghajar, the agreement was not concluded in the parliament, but rather an exceptional approval was issued by the Prime Minister at the time, Hassan Diab.
The Minister of Energy stresses the need to adopt the same method, indicating that he will meet with President Mikati for this purpose.
Although Iraq has not yet received the proceeds of the first contract, it agreed, based on the mediation of the Director General of General Security, Major General Abbas Ibrahim, to renew this contract for one year with the equivalent of a million tons of oil as well.
It is known that the Iraqi fuel is what kept the Al-Zahrani and Deir Ammar factories operating at the minimum level to secure an hour or two of electricity, but linking the renewal of the contract to the suspended legislative and executive authorities may deprive the Lebanese of these two hours as well.
The issue is also directly related to the political tension between the second and third presidencies, on the one hand, and the Free Patriotic Movement, on the other, especially concerning the convening of a caretaker government meeting.
The result of this tension is that the Lebanese citizen is the constant victim of the absence of electricity, which has consumed billions of dollars of his deposits and income with no significant result.