Three LPG carriers will discharge in Lebanon later this month to ease supply shortages, after the resolution of an impasse over fuel subsidies.
A disagreement between the government and central bank has blocked imports since earlier this month, worsening shortages of LPG alongside gasoline, diesel and fuel oil.
Lebanon's main supplier of LPG, Athens-based Naftomar, said that its 5,000t Gaz Redsea will discharge by today, after waiting more than 20 days offshore. The same company's 9,000t Gaz Energy is preparing to leave Greece, pending approval from Lebanon's Central Bank. A third carrier, Istanbul-based Astor Holding's 1,600t Monet, is also scheduled to discharge in Beirut today.
These three cargoes will lift imports this August to 17,200t, close to the average of 17,700t of LPG in each August for the past three years, according to Vortexa.
Lebanon's central bank, which manages imports, said on 11 August that it would end import subsidies because it could no longer afford to foot the bill. The government opposed the change and the import system ground to a halt until 21 August, when the president, caretaker prime minister and central bank governor, along with the finance and energy ministers, agreed to set aside up to $225mn to subsidise imports until the end of September. Fuel importers will receive an exchange rate of 8,000 Lebanese pounds to $1, around half of the former rate of L£3,900. But this new rate is favourable for importers, with the local currency so devalued that the unofficial rate is more like L£20,000/$1.
Lebanon's energy ministry raised the domestic price of LPG to reflect the change, meaning consumers today pay L£90,600 for a 10kg cylinder, compared with L£58,000 on 11 August. LPG prices have more than trebled from L£28,400 on 23 June.
