Fuel price protests in Syria continue for second day: What to know

Protests against a government decision to raise fuel prices continued in Syria on Monday, a day after a wave of demonstrations swept across several cities and provinces demanding that authorities reverse the action. 

What happened: Dozens of people gathered in the al-Shaddadi area near northeast Syria's Hassakah on Monday to protest the fuel price hikes. Videos circulating online showed crowds burning tires and complaining to security personnel about the decision’s impact on the cost of living.

On Saturday, the Ministry of Energy issued a new pricing list for petroleum products, effective Sunday. Diesel rose 40% to 175 Syrian pounds ($1.31) per liter, while gasoline prices increased by around 28%. The ministry said the increases were temporary and linked to global market rates.

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Aleppo, Idlib, Hama, Daraa, Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor and Hassakah provinces on Sunday evening shortly after the new prices took effect.

In some cities, protesters set tires ablaze and blocked major roads, including the highway linking Hassakah and Deir ez-Zor, preventing oil tanker trucks from passing through. Crowds also closed the international road between Deir ez-Zor and Aleppo in the Raqqa countryside, while traffic on the Damascus-Aleppo highway resumed Monday after being blocked in Idlib.

In Rif Dimashq, minibus drivers staged a strike over the price hike, disrupting traffic and causing congestion, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Under the new pricing published by the state-run SANA news agency, the price of one liter of 95-octane gasoline rose from 152 pounds ($1.14) to 195 Syrian pounds ($1.46), while one liter of 90-octane gasoline jumped to 185 pounds ($1.38) from 147 ($1.10).

Diesel fuel saw the largest increase at 40%, with one liter reaching 175 Syrian pounds ($1.31), up from 125 ($0.94).

Why it matters: The protests are among the largest since the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

Syria has experienced sporadic protests since Assad’s ouster, including demonstrations by the Druze community in the southern province of Suwayda in January 2025 and protests by Alawites in the coastal province of Latakia later that year. The latest demonstrations, however, have been driven by rising living costs rather than sectarian or political demands and have spread across much of the country.

The ministry attributed the hikes to higher global costs for petroleum products and reduced domestic refining capacity while the Baniyas refinery is overhauled. The refinery, Syria’s largest, has been offline since July, and the ministry said it is expected to remain closed for about two more months, increasing the country’s need to import finished petroleum products.

Syria’s government under President Ahmed al-Sharaa has sought to rebuild an energy industry devastated by more than a decade of war and sanctions while reducing its reliance on imports. But the country remains heavily dependent on foreign petroleum supplies and vulnerable to regional and global energy shocks.

Global oil prices rose 4.59% on Monday, reaching $109.30 per barrel at 8:36 a.m. EDT amid disruptions to energy supplies and shipping in the Red Sea and Strait of Hormuz.

Know more: The Syrian market requires the equivalent of around 300,000 barrels of crude oil and petroleum products per day, while domestic production does not meet demand, standing at about 100,000 barrels per day, according to the Energy Ministry.

Of Syria’s roughly 7.72 million liters of daily diesel demand, about 3.09 million liters are produced domestically, while 4.63 million liters are imported.