Lebanon in countrywide blackout on Friday due to fuel oil shortage
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The state-run power company Electricite du Liban (EDL) has revealed that the country will be in complete blackout this week.
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The capital city of Beirut remains in darkness during a power outage, Monday, July 6, 2020 (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Lebanon's only working power station will stop operating on Friday due to fuel oil shortages, which will cause a nationwide blackout, the state-run power company Electricite du Liban (EDL) said on Thursday.
"The only working power station in Zahrani will be forced to stop operating due to the deficit of fuel oil reserves, which will lead to a power cut across the entire country," EDL said in a statement, quoted by the state-run National News Agency.
The company said it had not received any fuel oil shipments this month under the agreement between Lebanon and Iraq, which was the only option left for Lebanon to have fuel for energy production. At the same time, the dates of electric power supply from Jordan and the beginning of natural gas imports from Egypt are still undecided.
Read: First shipment of Iraqi fuel arrives in Lebanon
Lebanon has been mired in several years of a political and economic crisis that has led to the resignation of two cabinets since protests against the government erupted in October 2019.
A year ago, the United Nations revealed that half of the Lebanese people live in poverty and the poverty levels increased from 8% in 2019 to 23% in 2020.
According to a United Nations report revealing the tragic situation the Lebanese have reached due to the economic crisis, the consumption index rose between 2019 and 2021 by 280%, and food prices rose by 670%.
