ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Protests continued across several Syrian cities for the second day in a row on Monday, with demonstrators burning tires and blocking roads, a day after the Syrian transitional government issued a decree on Sunday sharply raising official prices for diesel, gasoline and household gas.
Gasoline prices rose by around 26 to 28 percent, with 95-octane gasoline increasing from 152 ($1.24) to 195 Syrian pounds ($1.59) per liter and 90-octane gasoline from 147 ($1.20) to 185 pounds ($1.51), state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported. Diesel prices jumped 40 percent, from 125 ($1.02) to 175 Syrian pounds ($1.43) per liter, while household cooking gas prices rose by nearly nine percent.
The sudden price increase sparked immediate public anger, with activists and local journalists posting footage online showing rallies across Aleppo, Deir ez-Zor, Idlib and Raqqa provinces as well as the predominantly Kurdish province of Hasaka in northeast Syria (Rojava).
Near Tel Tamr in Hasaka, hundreds of tanker trucks transporting crude from the Rumeilan oil field came to a halt along the M4 highway after protesters blocked the road with burning tires and boulders, according to Ronahi TV, an outlet affiliated with the Kurdish-led administration in Rojava.
Officials attributed the increase to several internal and external factors.
"The Syrian market is affected by the rising global costs of securing gasoline, diesel, and fuel oil, coinciding with the Baniyas refinery undergoing a comprehensive overhaul lasting approximately two months, a situation that temporarily increases the need to import refined petroleum products," Abdulhamid Salat, head of the Syrian energy ministry media department, said in a statement carried by SANA on Sunday, in reference to reconstruction at the country’s main refinery after having operated for years under partial capacity due to deferred maintenance.
Salat further noted that Syria relies heavily on imports to bridge a wide energy deficit, as daily domestic crude production of around 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) falls far short of national demand, estimated at 300,000 to 325,000 bpd.
Tariq al-Abdullah, deputy CEO for refining and chemical industries at state-run Syrian Petroleum Company (SPC) told SANA on Friday that the project, which he framed as the first of its scale in the refinery’s history, will increase its capacity from 80,000 to 130,000 barrels per day (bpd).
Syria's oil and gas infrastructure has suffered extensive damage from years of war. The ministry of oil estimates direct losses in the oil sector at $91.5 billion, while the United Nations puts total damage across the hydrocarbon sector at $115 billion.
The country holds an estimated 2.5 billion barrels of proven oil reserves and between 8.5 trillion and 9.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas across 11 major fields in Deir ez-Zor, Homs, and Hasaka provinces.
The economic strain comes as the transitional government attempts to attract foreign investment to rebuild Syria's energy sector.
In early August, the SPC reached an agreement with US-based HKN Energy to rehabilitate and restore production capacity at the country's largest hydrocarbon field in the northeast by the end of next year.
Washington also progressively rolled back economic sanctions imposed on the regime of toppled Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, lifting sweeping Caesar Act restrictions in late 2025 and rescinding Syria's designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism in late August.
In a speech during a roundtable meeting with the American economic delegation on Monday relayed by SANA, Minister of Economy and Industry Nidal Al-Shaar highlighted the “transition of companies from merely selling in the Syrian market to producing in it, supplying from it, distributing through it, and serving regional markets from it, so that Syria transforms from a reconstruction market into an attractive productive and economic platform for capital.”
Nevertheless, the new demonstrations highlight ongoing economic vulnerabilities despite recent international relief.
