Shafaq News- Baghdad
Iraq is facing a growing shortfall between diesel productionand consumption as demand surges during the summer peak, the Oil Ministry'sspokesperson told Shafaq News on Tuesday.
Salim Al-Kinani said the higher consumption is being drivenby power generation plants, which are burning more diesel as supplies ofimported natural gas decline. The government has also doubled dieselallocations for neighborhood generators, he added, while vehicle demand hasclimbed ahead of the Arbaeen pilgrimage.
To close the shortfall, the ministry is running refineriesat maximum capacity and working to raise diesel output. Al-Kinani pointed outthat the Council of Ministers recently approved additional imports to cover thedeficit and keep fuel flowing to power stations and private generators withoutinterruption.
The shortage produced long queues at fuel stations earlieron Tuesday. Generator owners also complained that deteriorating fuel qualityhas caused repeated technical faults, disrupting operations through the summer.
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