Popular fears of raising gasoline prices in light of the lack of high-octane

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[size=52]Popular fears of raising gasoline prices in light of the lack of high-octane[/size]

[size=45]Baghdad/ Firas Adnan[/size]
[size=45]Clear fears began among the Iraqi street about an expected decision to raise the price of a liter of car fuel, in light of the crisis of unavailability of "high-octane" gasoline.[/size]
[size=45]While the Ministry of Oil confirmed that the state supports the gasoline product at twice its price, a parliamentary committee warned against resorting to imposing new burdens on citizens, but it denied the existence of an official trend until the present time.[/size]
[size=45]The director of petroleum products distribution in the Ministry of Oil, Hussein Talib, said, "Improved gasoline is imported from abroad and is not produced inside Iraq, and it is bought with hard currency."[/size]
[size=45]Taleb added, in a radio statement followed by (Al-Mada), that "the rise in international fuel prices affected the issue of processing," stressing that "improved gasoline comes through two lines, the first having priority and importance by transferring it to the country's refineries for mixing, maximizing and increasing production for the gasoline sold per liter. 450 dinars, because most of the consumption comes on this type of gasoline.”[/size]
[size=45]He stressed, "What is in excess of these quantities is sold directly at the stations, and that the global price of high-octane gasoline reaches the country's ports at 2,100 dinars."[/size]
[size=45]Taleb pointed out that "this price generates a loss for the state, and therefore it resorts to providing gasoline at a price of 450 dinars, and there is a study in order to sell high-octane gasoline again in stations."[/size]
[size=45]He continues, "The cost of gasoline, which is sold at 450 dinars on the Oil Products Distribution Company, is up to 1270 dinars, and therefore the state supports the price of gasoline by more than twice the price."[/size]
[size=45]Taleb went on to say that "high-octane gasoline is available, but it is scarce, and during the coming period, perhaps less than a month, it will be available again."[/size]
[size=45]For his part, Deputy Chairman of the Oil and Gas Committee in the House of Representatives, Ali Mashkour, stated that “the most gasoline crisis we are witnessing is in Basra Governorate, although it has refineries, and the quantities of car fuel coming to it should be greater than others.”[/size]
[size=45]Mashkour continued, "The Prime Minister assigned the National Security Agency to follow up on the smuggling of oil derivatives, as these actions were the cause of the crisis."[/size]
[size=45]He pointed out, "The difference in the price of fuel between the governorates prompted some of the owners of the stations to sell the shares allocated to them to other governorates."[/size]
[size=45]Mashkour expressed his “confidence in the National Security Agency and the rest of the security formations in pursuing these operations and arresting the perpetrators of the crisis.”[/size]
[size=45]He finds, "The owners of private stations have become fully aware that they are subject to inspections by the National Security Agency, and this is a good thing for the government and the citizen."[/size]
[size=45]And Mashkour explained, “The reasons have been numerous. Some claim that there is a discrepancy in the delivery of quotas to stations, and another say that there are not enough quantities for local consumption, and another claim that there is smuggling.”[/size]
[size=45]He called, "The Ministry of Oil to pick up the situation and not throw the ball into the court of others," explaining that "the ministry bears the responsibility of providing the gasoline product, and there is no relationship to other parties except in the field of cooperation in order to limit smuggling operations."[/size]
[size=45]Mashkour stressed, "the necessity of imposing strict control by the General Company for Oil Products on the stations, through coordination with law enforcement agencies and security forces."[/size]
[size=45]And he talks about, “there are mafias that are responsible for smuggling operations, and the evidence is that in one of these mafia’s dens, there are numbers for wheels transporting fuel, and this means that there is cooperation from the owners of those wheels.”[/size]
[size=45]Mashkour confirmed, “There are leaks that what is happening is the beginning of raising the price of gasoline, but no official decision has been issued in this regard until the present time, and we cannot speak of any speculation unless there is a decision to raise the price of gasoline from the Ministry of Oil.”[/size]
[size=45]He stated, “Resorting to raising the price must be accompanied by a justification issued by the Ministry of Oil, as the result is the interest of the citizen and the economic situation of the country above all considerations,” but he returned to explain, that “any decision to raise the price is not acceptable in a country that possesses large quantities of oil, such as those in Iraq".[/size]
[size=45]Mashkour added, "The picture is starting to become clear with regard to the security forces, which have begun to impose their control and limit smuggling operations."[/size]
[size=45]A security official revealed the arrest of about 1,000 people accused of smuggling fuel since the beginning of this year, stressing that smugglers use devious methods in their operations.[/size]
[size=45]The Director of the Energy Police, Major General Ghanem Al-Husseini, said in a television statement, which was followed by (Al-Mada), that "the smuggling of oil derivatives has not yet reached the stage of the phenomenon, and there is intimidation in the current circumstance."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Husseini added, "Our operations included arresting the owners of the violating tanks and unlicensed civil laboratories scattered in the governorates and referring them to the judiciary."[/size]
[size=45]He pointed out, "Some of the derivatives carriers load a different material from what is mentioned in the official document they carry, and here it is difficult for the affiliate to know the product."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Husseini explained, "Iraq has some of the private factories and stations that are licensed to take their share from the Ministry of Oil, but some of them are not satisfied with what they obtain or do not work at all and sell their share to smugglers."[/size]
[size=45]He stressed, "968 arrests of these crimes during the six months since the beginning of this year," explaining that "the arrest process is accompanied by the seizure of tanks, stations and garages that the accused works with."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Husseini added, "These defendants are being investigated, they make detailed confessions, they are referred to the judiciary, and judgments are issued against them in accordance with the law."[/size]
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