For the past three decades and during the same season, residents of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region suffer from a hike in fuel and oil prices in the local market.
And same as each year, the authorities pledge to resolve the crisis.
However, the problem keeps aggravating. And this year it’s close to becoming a dilemma that might have no solution in the near future.
As the season of rain and cold approaches in the Kurdistan Region, known for its fierce winters, prices of fuel and its derivatives registered a steep increase. The price of one liter of gasoline reached around $1, while in the capital Baghdad and other Iraqi provinces it’s less than 50 cent.
Also, the price of kerosene jumped to $110 and is expected to increase further with the beginning of the snow season.
Erbil Mayor Nabaz Abdulhamid told Asharq Al-Awsat on Wednesday that the rise in fuel prices is mainly due to the lack of direct government subsidies on petroleum products, which subject them to competition and to the principle of demand and supply.
“The repercussions of the severe economic crisis in the Kurdistan Region, caused by the war on ISIS and cutting the region’s financial share from the Iraqi public budget for the past five years, forced the government to eliminate its support for fuel derivatives,” Abdulhamid said.
The mayor added that any increase in the price of fuel is also linked to the price of crude oil in the global markets.
“The government of the Kurdsitan Region is currently coordinating with the Iraqi Oil Ministry to supply residents living in the mountainous areas, with fuel,” he said.
Zubeir Abdulrazak, 39, who sells fuel at an Erbil’s market, said the price of fuel and oil derivatives increased mainly because Iranian authorities prevented the arrival of oil derivatives to the Kurdistan Region due to the dire economic situation inside Iran and the inability of dealers to import fuel from other countries caused by rising costs.
