Fuel price surge sparks Syria’s biggest protests since Assad ouster

A steep jump in fuel prices has triggered the most widespread protests Syria has seen since the fall of Bashar al Assad nearly two years ago, deepening frustration in a country already gripped by economic hardship.

Demonstrators burned tires and blocked major roads across the country over the weekend, including the highway linking Damascus to Aleppo, after the government raised diesel prices by 40 percent on Saturday to 175 Syrian pounds, or about 1.32 dollars, per litre. Protests also spread through the Aleppo countryside, where crowds gathered in Azaz and Al Bab, and into Idlib province, where demonstrators closed the M5 international highway near Maarat al Numan. In the northeast, residents in towns across al Hasakah, Deir Ezzor and Raqqa blocked roads and halted crude oil tankers headed toward interior refineries, rejecting the new pricing outright.

The price hikes mark the steepest of several increases the government has announced since the war between the United States and Iran began. Alongside the diesel increase, authorities raised household and industrial gas prices by roughly 9 percent, pushed 95 octane gasoline up 28 percent to 195 pounds, and increased 90 octane gasoline by 26 percent to 185 pounds. Some protesters called for the removal of the energy and economy ministers as well as the head of the state oil company, while others appealed directly to interim leadership for relief. One protester in Aleppo told a reporter that residents simply want lower fuel prices rather than higher wages, while another said ordinary people are not asking for new infrastructure projects, just a livable situation.

An Energy Ministry spokesperson said on Sunday that the increases represent a temporary response to higher global procurement costs and the country’s heavy reliance on imported fuel, adding that prices could move up or down again depending on conditions. The spokesperson said the pricing reflects not just crude costs but also shortages of refined products and higher refining, transport and supply expenses. Officials have also pointed to an overhaul underway at the Baniyas refinery, the country’s largest, which has been shut for three months for its first comprehensive maintenance since it came under the transitional government, an upgrade intended to lift capacity from 80,000 to 130,000 barrels a day.

Syria has leaned heavily on Russian crude this year, importing around 60,000 barrels a day, even as Damascus has signaled to Washington that it is willing to sharply cut back on those purchases. That supply route has come under strain as Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries have curbed output, prompting Moscow to tighten exports of gasoline and diesel and adding further pressure to Syria’s fuel pipeline.

The cumulative effect has been dramatic. Gasoline prices have climbed roughly 86 percent since February, while diesel costs have more than doubled over the same period. Benchmark Brent crude has also surged, rising from around 72 dollars a barrel to above 104 dollars amid the broader regional conflict. A taxi driver in Damascus said passengers are already balking at higher fares and warned that the cost of vegetables and other basic goods will inevitably follow fuel prices upward, leaving people with few options beyond hardship.

The unrest lands at a fragile moment for Syria’s economy. The United Nations Development Programme estimates that roughly 90 percent of Syrians now live below the poverty line, compared with about a third before the civil war began in 2011. Years of conflict, sanctions and currency instability have left households with little cushion to absorb further price shocks, and the scale of this weekend’s demonstrations suggests that patience with the transitional government’s economic management is wearing thin. How the leadership responds, whether through rollbacks, subsidies or continued insistence that the hikes are temporary, is likely to shape public confidence in the post Assad transition in the months ahead.