Anger spread from gas stations to the Syrian streets, with the sudden increase in fuel prices taking effect, erupting one of the largest waves of social protest since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, amid strikes in the transportation sector, the closure of vital roads, and demands for the dismissal of Energy Minister Mohamed al-Bashir.
The movements extended to at least 8 governorates, including Aleppo, Idlib, Hama, Daraa, Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, Al-Hasakah, and the Damascus countryside. Circulating recordings showed protesters burning tires and blocking roads, while chants were raised, including: “The people want to overthrow the minister.”
The crisis began after the Permanent Committee for Setting Petroleum Products Prices announced a temporary bulletin that raised the price of a liter of diesel by 40%, from 125 to 175 new Syrian pounds. Octane 95 gasoline also rose from 152 to 195 liras, and octane 90 gasoline from 147 to 185 liras, while the price of a domestic gas cylinder reached 1,600 liras, according to the official bulletin issued by SANA.
Taxi and transportation drivers in a number of cities quickly raised fares, while minibus drivers in the Damascus countryside carried out a strike that caused congestion and disrupted traffic. Syrians fear that the increase will quickly spread to food and commodity prices, as a result of the high cost of transportation and employment.
In Idlib, protesters blocked the M5 international road near Maarat al-Numan, before movement on it resumed later. The movements also included the road between Aleppo and Turkey, the road between Al-Hasakah and Deir ez-Zor, and the international road between Deir ez-Zor and Aleppo in the Raqqa countryside.
The movements were not limited to blocking roads, as oil tankers were prevented from passing through a number of eastern axes, which threatens the protests to turn into an additional factor putting pressure on fuel supplies, at a time when the country relies heavily on imports.
The Ministry of Energy justified the increase as “temporary and exceptional,” and linked it to the high cost of purchasing, transporting, and insuring oil derivatives, coinciding with the rise in global oil prices and the disruption of supply chains in the Red Sea and the Gulf.
The crisis becomes more complex with the suspension of the Banias refinery, the largest in the country, due to comprehensive maintenance work, which raised the need to import ready-made derivatives. The Syrian market needs the equivalent of about 300,000 barrels per day, compared to a local production of only about 100,000, according to data from the Ministry of Energy, meaning that the country depends on abroad to secure about two-thirds of its needs.
The confrontation quickly moved to the People’s Assembly, where more than 20 deputies signed a request to hear from the Minister of Energy about the reasons for the decision and its repercussions. Official Syrian media announced that a session had been scheduled for Thursday to hold the minister accountable, after the demands in the street shifted from a decline in prices to holding him directly responsible.
These protests put the government of President Ahmed Al-Sharaa before a very sensitive economic and social test, as they are distinguished from previous movements in that they are not limited to one region or component, but rather started from a common livelihood crisis and crossed the lines of geographical and political division. With the expansion of transportation strikes, the question is no longer limited to the government’s ability to stabilize new prices, but rather its ability to prevent the fuel crisis from turning into a broader wave of popular anger.
