Kurdistan Region cabinet approves four measures to ease fuel shortage

ERBIL, Iraq — The Kurdistan Regional Government has approved a four-point package to address a fuel shortage that has affected the region for roughly a week. Prime Minister Masrour Barzani chaired the cabinet meeting in Erbil and directed the Ministry of Natural Resources to resolve the crisis as quickly as possible. Under the approved decisions, the price of government-subsidized standard gasoline will remain unchanged, and fuel will be distributed among stations that comply with the ministry's regulations. The cabinet also agreed to adjust prices of improved and super gasoline in line with market rates and to ease the import of chemical additives used in those fuel grades. Barzani said the KRG would ask the federal government to raise the region's allocated share of crude oil from 50,000 barrels per day to 126,700 barrels per day, based on population ratios. Authorities in Erbil have also begun using electronic cards and a coupon system for distributing subsidized gasoline in an effort to eliminate the long queues at filling stations.