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
TT

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.



Iran: Houthis Will Allow Rescuers to Salvage Oil Tanker Ablaze in Red Sea

Flames and smoke rise from the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion, which has been on fire since August 23, on the Red Sea, August 28, 2024. EUNAVFOR ASPIDES via X/Handout via REUTERS
Flames and smoke rise from the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion, which has been on fire since August 23, on the Red Sea, August 28, 2024. EUNAVFOR ASPIDES via X/Handout via REUTERS
TT

Iran: Houthis Will Allow Rescuers to Salvage Oil Tanker Ablaze in Red Sea

Flames and smoke rise from the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion, which has been on fire since August 23, on the Red Sea, August 28, 2024. EUNAVFOR ASPIDES via X/Handout via REUTERS
Flames and smoke rise from the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion, which has been on fire since August 23, on the Red Sea, August 28, 2024. EUNAVFOR ASPIDES via X/Handout via REUTERS

Yemen’s Houthi militias have agreed to allow tugboats and rescue ships to assist a Greek-flagged oil tanker that remains ablaze in the Red Sea “in consideration of humanitarian and environmental concerns,” Iran’s mission to the United Nations claimed late Wednesday.

However, the Houthis did not offer specific details and are believed to have blocked an earlier attempt to salvage the vessel and continue to attack shipping across the Red Sea.

Last week’s attack on the Sounion marked the most serious assault in weeks by the Iranian-backed Houthis, who continue to target shipping through the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

Iran’s UN mission said Wednesday that following the fire on the Sounion “and the subsequent environmental hazards,” several countries it didn’t identify reached out to the Houthis “requesting a temporary truce for the entry of tugboats and rescue ships into the incident area.”

“Ansar Allah has consented to this,” the Iranian mission said, using another name for the Houthis. It offered no further details, nor did the Houthis.