Aleppo Diesel Runs Dry
The northern city of Aleppo is facing an acute shortage of diesel, known locally as mazut, after deliveries to filling stations were cut off on Tuesday, 20 October 2026. By the following morning nearly every station had run dry, with only one reporting available fuel.
Station operators said no new consignment had reached them since the interruption began, leaving pumps idle and forcing residents to queue for hours in search of supply.
Transport and Power Squeezed
The shortage has cut deeply into daily life. The number of shared minibuses operating fell to below half on most city routes, stranding students and commuters and costing drivers their daily earnings. Some turned to informal sellers at higher prices despite fears over fuel quality.
Electricity has been hit in tandem. Subscription fees for private generators, on which many districts rely because of weak grid supply, rose from 700 to 1,000 Syrian pounds (SYP) per ampere. Parts of the al-Firdous, al-Sukkari, al-Jazmati and Maysar neighborhoods, along with Bani Zeid, which has no grid power at all, depend directly on those generators.
Supply Chain Under Strain
Operators described a distribution system buckling under demand. A tanker that once served about 20 stations is now split between two, and during a 24-hour cut earlier in the month supplies reached only 12 stations. Owners said priority in allocations is given to Damascus.
One operator said he had paid about 2.1 billion SYP for five fuel orders totaling roughly 110,000 liters, none of which arrived. Stations in Aleppo and Idlib draw their allocations from the Baniyas refinery, whose suspected shutdown operators cited as a possible cause, while other provinces are supplied from the Homs refinery.
Adulterated Fuel Seized
Internal security forces in the Semaan al-Janoubiya area of rural Aleppo announced on 17 October 2026 the arrest of a four-member cell accused of blending refined and used oil with chemicals and selling it as Iraqi diesel at a specific station.
Patrols seized two tankers of the adulterated material along with mixing equipment, and the detainees were referred to the judiciary. Available information does not establish any link between the case and the current supply interruption.
No Timeline for Relief
Measures taken in recent months to regulate distribution, monitor markets and curb hoarding did not prevent the current crisis. The causes of the shortfall and the date for a regular resumption of deliveries remain unclear, leaving operators awaiting delayed orders and residents absorbing the strain on transport and power.