Syria announces new measures to solve the illegal gasoline crisis

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The control teams in the Energy Services Department in the Syrian capital, Damascus, follow up on the stages of receiving and selling gasoline, from the moment the “gasoline tank” arrives at the gas station to its filling at the pumps and until the stage of selling it to vehicle drivers, to ensure that it conforms to the approved specifications and quantities, and to detect any violation or tampering with the quality.

These strict control measures come in the wake of complaints received from citizens about the presence of gasoline suspected of not conforming to specifications, which required intensifying field tours and withdrawing samples from stations and subjecting them to laboratory tests, to verify the quality of the material and ensure its compliance with the approved standard specifications.

The head of the Oversight Division at the Energy Services Administration in Damascus, Muhammad Salam, explained that the work of the teams begins with verifying the quality of the material through samples and laboratory tests, and does not end there, as it also includes following up on periodic calibrations of pumps and meters and ensuring the accuracy of the quantities sold to citizens, according to the Syrian News Agency “SANA.”

Salam said that the oversight teams, in the framework of following up on complaints received from citizens, detect and verify them on the ground, and take the necessary measures against any violation that is proven.

When the gasoline tank arrives at the station, another stage of control procedures begins, as the director of one of the gas stations in Damascus, Nizar Sinjab, explained that the documents accompanying the gasoline in the tanks are matched, a sample is drawn from it, its density and temperature are measured before receiving it, and the results are matched with the specifications and data contained in the invoice.

Sinjab said that if there is any indication that the material does not conform to the specifications, the competent patrols of the Ministry of Energy are informed to take legal action, organize the necessary control, and prevent the violating material from being offered for sale.