Fuel costs in Iraqi Kurdistan defy ceiling prices

Shafaq News- Erbil/ Al-Sulaymaniyah/ Duhok

Drivers in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) paid up to 2,000 dinars (about $1.53) a liter for gasoline on Monday, more than double the government's 850-dinar cap on commercial sales, according to a Shafaq News survey of filling stations.

In Erbil, locally known “normal” gasoline sold for around 1,300 dinars (about $0.99) per liter, while improved-grade gasoline ranged between 1,500 and 1,650 dinars (about $1.15–1.26). Super gasoline sold for between 1,700 and 2,000 dinars (about $1.30–1.53) per liter.

Hoger Kurdi, the owner of a filling station in Erbil, said that station operators are under significant pressure due to stronger local demand, coupled with limited availability of refined petroleum products, and regional tensions and conflict.

In Duhok, an official at a filling station considered that implementing the new pricing requires fuel producers and suppliers to provide gasoline at lower wholesale costs that match the retail ceiling.

Filling station owner Jalal Mohammed in Al-Sulaymaniyah said the crisis stems from the shutdown of several local refineries and lower output from the Khor Mor gas field because of security threats.

The Ministry of Natural Resources ordered an increase in supplies of government-subsidized “normal” gasoline sold at 750 dinars (about $0.57) per liter and capped commercially sold normal gasoline at 850 dinars (about $0.65) per liter, warning that filling stations charging above the official ceiling “would face legal action.”