Lebanon is set to receive much-needed fuel shipments that are expected to provide temporary relief to the country’s ongoing power crisis, Energy Minister Walid Fayyad told Al-Liwaa newspaper.

The shipments, which include gas oil and fuel oil from Egypt, Algeria, and Iraq, are crucial for powering Lebanon’s electricity grid, which has been struggling to maintain even minimal daily power production.

The first shipment, consisting of 30,000 tons of gas oil, is slated to arrive from Egypt on August 25 or 26. This delivery is the result of a tender process conducted by the Lebanese Ministry of Energy, which was won by an Egyptian company. The shipment, valued at $25 million, will be paid for by Electricité du Liban (EDL), the state electricity company. Upon arrival, the gas oil will undergo laboratory testing to verify its quality before it is offloaded.

Another 30,000-ton shipment of fuel oil from Algeria is expected to dock in Lebanon on August 27. However, Minister Fayyad noted that this fuel cannot be used immediately; the ministry plans to exchange approximately 20,000 tons of the Algerian fuel oil for gas oil, which is more efficient for power generation.

In addition, a large shipment of Iraqi fuel oil, totaling 100,000 tons, is scheduled to arrive on August 25. This fuel will be loaded at the Port of Basra before being transported to Lebanon, where it will also be swapped for about 60,000 tons of gas oil to better serve the country’s power needs.

According to Fayyad, these shipments should be sufficient to meet Lebanon’s electricity needs for about a month, ensuring that the country’s power plants can generate electricity for 4 to 6 hours each day. This temporary reprieve comes as Lebanon waits for additional fuel shipments from Iraq, which are hoped to arrive without delay.