Delay in oil shipment unloading disrupts increase in electricity supply

In a phone call between Minister of Energy Walid Fayyad and the Governor of Banque du Liban (BDL), Riad Salameh, the governor promised the minister that he would prepare a letter of guarantees related to an electricity advance worth $62 million immediately after receiving the Ministry of Finance's letter approving the issuance of such a letter.

It is expected that this matter will happen on Tuesday, which will allow the start of successive unloading of two shipments of oil, amounting to 66 thousand tons, in the tanks of the Deir Ammar and Al-Zahrani plants.

Minister Fayyad was under pressure to complete this process before Christmas, so he obtained from the Presidency of the Government a so-called exceptional letter of approval for the advance, provided that a decree in this regard would be prepared later and presented to the Council of Ministers as a settlement. Based on this letter, Minister Fayyad pressured Minister of Finance Yousef Khalil to send the letter to BDL announcing acceptance of the treasury advance and requesting the Central Bank to issue a letter of guarantee.

The letter of guarantee would then be delivered to the supplier, Vitol company, to unload the oil shipment. Still, the Minister of Finance delayed the matter to study the text of the letter prepared by the Ministry of Finance before deciding in the next few hours.

So, as of mid-week, the electricity feeding hours are supposed to increase to four hours, but the Minister of Energy repeats that he desired to raise the feeding to 10 hours if BDL had allocated 600 million dollars for Electricité du Liban (EDL).

However, BDL's ruler may be cautious about the success of the path that EDL can take to collect its dues. Suppose it succeeds in that and secures a financial balance. In that case, BDL could reconsider its decision to ration funds for the corporation, especially since there is an upcoming payment due of $80 million for a fuel oil shipment and Prime South Company for the maintenance of the Zahrani plant.

In the coming June or July, EDL is supposed to start paying the fuel price for its factories. Thus the financial balance that was missing for decades would be achieved. Sources in the Ministry of Energy say that if EDL manages production and collection well, it may make profits, provided that it reaches a new agreement with the BDL regarding the price of the electricity dollar.