Starved of Electricity, Lebanon Picks Dubai's ENOC to Swap Iraqi Fuel

Facade of Lebanon's electricity company in Beirut, Lebanon March 26, 2019. Picture taken March 26, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Facade of Lebanon's electricity company in Beirut, Lebanon March 26, 2019. Picture taken March 26, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
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Starved of Electricity, Lebanon Picks Dubai's ENOC to Swap Iraqi Fuel

Facade of Lebanon's electricity company in Beirut, Lebanon March 26, 2019. Picture taken March 26, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Facade of Lebanon's electricity company in Beirut, Lebanon March 26, 2019. Picture taken March 26, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

Lebanon's energy ministry said it had picked Dubai's ENOC in a tender to swap 84,000 tons of Iraqi high sulphur fuel oil with 30,000 tons of Grade B fuel oil and 33,000 tons of gasoil.

ENOC won the tender, part of a deal between the two countries that allows the cash-strapped Lebanese government to pay for 1 million tons of Iraqi heavy fuel oil a year in goods and services, reported Reuters.

As Lebanon suffers what the World Bank has described as one of the deepest depressions of modern history, shortages of fuel this month have meant state-powered electricity has been available for barely a few hours a day if at all.

Residents turning to private generators for their power supply face diesel shortages.

The swap tenders are essential as Iraqi fuel is unsuitable for Lebanese electricity generation.

Lebanese caretaker Energy Minister Raymond Ghajar said in July the fuel from the Iraqi deal would be used for electricity generation by the state provider and was enough for around four Months.

ENOC is set to receive the Iraq fuel between Sept. 3-5 and will deliver it to Lebanon two weeks after, the energy ministry said.



UN Rights Chief ‘Gravely Concerned’ by Lebanon Escalation

Smoke billows above Beirut’s southern suburbs following an Israeli airstrike on November 26, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
Smoke billows above Beirut’s southern suburbs following an Israeli airstrike on November 26, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
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UN Rights Chief ‘Gravely Concerned’ by Lebanon Escalation

Smoke billows above Beirut’s southern suburbs following an Israeli airstrike on November 26, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
Smoke billows above Beirut’s southern suburbs following an Israeli airstrike on November 26, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)

The UN rights chief on Tuesday voiced concern about the escalation of hostilities in Lebanon, where his office said nearly 100 people had been reported killed by Israeli airstrikes in recent days, including women, children and medics.

Israel has been locked in fighting with Lebanese armed group Hezbollah since Oct. 2023, and fighting has escalated dramatically since late September of this year.

"UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk is gravely concerned by the escalation in Lebanon with at least 97 people reportedly killed in Israeli airstrikes between the 22nd and 24th of November," Jeremy Laurence, a spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, told a Geneva press briefing.

He said that at least seven paramedics had been reported killed in three Israeli strikes in the south of Lebanon on Nov. 22-23, adding to 226 healthcare worker deaths since Oct. 7, 2023. He did not specify how many of the recent deaths had been verified by UN human rights monitors.

Israel says it targets military capabilities in Lebanon and Gaza and takes steps to mitigate the risk of harm to civilians. It accuses Hezbollah, like Hamas, of hiding among civilians, which they deny.