Stations Run Dry
Diesel disappeared from most fuel stations in Aleppo and Idlib on 12 October 2026, leaving drivers stranded and shuttering roughly half of the stations in Aleppo city. In Idlib, diesel vanished from most stations on Monday morning, while gasoline remained available only in limited and uneven quantities.
In Aleppo, diesel was nearly impossible to find across the city and its countryside, forcing the province to rely on daily tanker deliveries that have failed to keep pace with demand.
A Broken Supply Chain
Part of Aleppo's shortage traces to damaged infrastructure: the main storage facility in the Ramouseh industrial area was wrecked during the war and remains unfit to hold fuel, leaving the province dependent on what arrives by truck each day. Both Aleppo and Idlib are supplied from the Baniyas refinery, while Homs, Hama, Damascus, Raqqa, and Deir ez-Zor draw on the Homs refinery.
Unconfirmed reports suggest the Baniyas refinery may have halted operations, a disruption that would tighten supplies further, though no official confirmation has been issued.
Mounting Costs
The financial strain is heavy. One station operator in Aleppo said his last diesel delivery had arrived days earlier and that he had paid about 2.1 billion Syrian pounds (SYP) for five orders totaling roughly 110,000 liters, none of which had reached him. He blamed what he called "weak experience" in distribution, noting that placing multiple orders per station can jam the delivery system.
Reserves at some stations are being held back for ambulances, security forces, and holders of fuel coupons, narrowing what is left for ordinary drivers.
Damaged Engines
Compounding the shortage, drivers and mechanics in Aleppo, Damascus, Deir ez-Zor, and Latakia reported sudden engine, fuel-pump, and valve failures after refueling with substandard gasoline. Repair bills reached hundreds of US dollars (USD) in some cases, a steep sum for households already stretched by the crisis.
Official Response
Energy Minister Mohammed al-Bashir ordered a follow-up on the crisis and an investigation into the faulty fuel, with the ministry's deputy for oil affairs, Ghiyath Diab, tracking the situation on the ground. The state fuel distributor announced a separate inquiry into the source of the non-compliant gasoline, while one fuel company said the complaints were general and not tied to its own stations.