Kurdistan Regional Government moves to address fuel shortages in Erbil meeting

ERBIL, Iraq — Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani chaired a special meeting in Erbil on Monday to address shortages of gasoline and other fuel products, according to a government statement. Barzani directed the Ministry of Natural Resources and relevant agencies to resolve the issue in the public's interest as quickly as possible. The meeting decided to maintain the current price of government-subsidized regular gasoline and continue distributing the fuel to stations operating in line with the ministry's directives. Prices for improved and premium gasoline will be adjusted according to the regional market, and facilitation will be provided for importing the chemical additives used in those fuel grades. Officials also called on the Iraqi federal government to raise the Kurdistan Region's daily crude oil allocation from 50,000 barrels to 126,700 barrels, a level they said matches the region's population share of 12.67 percent. In addition, participants agreed on measures to prevent monopolization in the fuel sector, particularly the gasoline market. No further details on the implementation timeline were immediately available.