Fuel protests sweep through Syria, posing growing challenge for Damascus

Protests have erupted across Syria, particularly in the north and northeast, after the government’s decision to raise fuel prices for a second time in nine days – putting further strain on an already war-battered society, especially farmers.

Diesel rose by 40% to 175 Syrian pounds ($1.32) a litre, while petrol increased by 28% to 195 pounds ($1.47) a litre, according to the state-run news agency SANA. The country’s Energy Ministry described the hike as a "temporary measure" imposed by rising costs of securing fuel on global markets amid the Iran war and Strait of Hormuz crisis.

The ministry said Syria is currently being affected by higher global costs for securing petrol, diesel and fuel oil, while the shutdown of the Baniyas refinery for maintenance has increased the need to source petroleum products from abroad during the maintenance period.

It said the price adjustment "aims to ensure the continued flow of petroleum products and their availability in the local market, amid higher supply costs and the need to secure requirements while the refinery is shut down."

Syria produces around 100,000 barrels of oil per day, while domestic demand is estimated at around 300,000 barrels per day.

Heavy impact in Syria’s agricultural heartland

As soon as the government announced the new prices, protests broke out in several Syrian provinces, with demonstrators blocking major roads and intercepting oil tankers heading towards the Homs refinery.

The latest protests also come amid a broader rise in demonstrations over economic conditions. According to ACLED data cited by Syrian analyst Muaz al-Abdullah, 45% of protests recorded in Syria during the first week of September were driven by economic demands.

But the protests have been particularly prominent in northeast Syria, where demonstrations in Hasakah and Deir Ezzor have taken on a more confrontational character.

Abdullah said protests had become "more violent", with demonstrators burning tyres and erecting barricades to block major roads, including the M5 highway linking northern and southern Syria.

"Barricades were being used to cut off roads, and this is something that we didn't used to see a lot in Syria," Abdullah told The New Arab, noting that demonstrations since the fall of former dictator Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024 had mostly been peaceful.

The protests are also significant because they come after a second fuel price increase in just nine days. The first hike was announced on 4 September, followed by another on 13 September.

Abdullah said the protests should be viewed as part of a broader accumulation of economic and social grievances rather than simply a reaction to the latest fuel prices.

"Of course these protests might turn into a challenge for the government, they are super significant. This is a result of accumulating crises and worsening socioeconomic conditions in Syria," he said.

Fuel prices affect virtually every aspect of daily life, from transport and food production to heating and basic services.

The impact is likely to be felt even more heavily in northeast Syria, which includes Hasakah, Deir Ezzor and Raqqa – areas that form the country’s agricultural heartland and produce much of its wheat.

"The northeast of Syria, specifically Hasaka and Deir Ezzor, these regions produce oil in Syria, but now they’re unable to receive basic services and carry out day-to-day affairs because of the fuel price hike," Abdullah said.

The region is also approaching a crucial agricultural period, with farmers expected to begin cultivation in late September and early October.

"Irrigating and cultivating lands and transport can’t happen without fuel," Abdullah said, adding that Hasakeh, Deir and Raqqa produce Syria’s main agricultural product, wheat.

An already fragile state

The fuel hike comes after existing tensions between farmers and the government in the northeast, where protests had already taken place over the price set by Damascus for purchasing wheat and delays in payments.

The timing is particularly sensitive because northeast Syria is undergoing a major political transition as the authorities in Damascus seek to integrate the region and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces into the Syrian state.

The Kurdish-led SDF and Damascus forces fought deadly clashes for weeks earlier this year, with government forces overrunning areas formerly under SDF control. A deal to integrate the SDF into the government is now underway.

"It’s not in the government’s interest, with the transition happening in Kurdish-majority areas, to increase fuel prices," Abdullah said.

He said accumulating economic grievances and deteriorating conditions could delay the integration of northeast Syria into the wider state and social fabric of the country.

The danger for Damascus is that economic frustration could become tied to the region’s broader political transition, reinforcing perceptions among some residents that their situation has worsened as the northeast comes under greater control of the central government.

Such sentiment could prove particularly damaging as Damascus seeks to reunite a country that remains deeply divided after more than 13 years of civil war.

A growing challenge for Damascus

But the unrest is not confined to the northeast.

Protests have also been reported in Hama, Aleppo and Idlib, with agriculture again emerging as a common factor.

"There is one primary thing in common for all these regions – agriculture," Abdullah said.

The protests are among the most significant anti-government demonstrations since Assad’s fall, according to Robin Yassin-Kassab, an author and political commentator.

"There’s been a lot of protests in Syria since the liberation, most of them over economic conditions, price rises, so on, but these are by far the most significant," Yassin-Kassab told The New Arab.

He said the protests were particularly worrying for the government because they were occurring in areas where support for the new authorities might otherwise be expected to be strong. In some demonstrations, protesters chanted: "the people want the fall of Jolani," President Ahmed al-Sharaa's nom de guerre, while others called on the energy minister to resign.

"They could absolutely develop into a broader challenge to the government," Yassin-Kassab said.

While the immediate trigger is the fuel price increase, it is also exposing much deeper frustrations with living conditions across the country.

"It’s both – it’s definitely about fuel prices," he said, pointing to the impact of the war in Iran and the resulting global rise in fuel costs. "But of course in Syria there’s a huge amount of rebuilding to do," he added.

Patience wearing thin

The conflict, which began in March 2011 after Assad’s forces violently cracked down on protesters, left much of the country in ruins. Millions of Syrians remain without adequate housing or employment, while large parts of the country continue to lack reliable electricity, running water and basic civilian infrastructure.

For more than a year, many Syrians have given the new government the benefit of the doubt, Yassin-Kassab said, partly because of their relief at the end of Assad’s rule and partly because they recognise the scale of the task facing the new authorities.

But that patience may not last.

"As we approach two years after the liberation, people’s patience will run out," he said.

Yassin-Kassab said the current protests reflected a population facing a "huge cost of living crisis" while still waiting for the civilian infrastructure needed to rebuild their lives.

For the government, the problem is deepened by its limited resources. Damascus has little income and enormous demands on its finances, particularly as it attempts to rebuild the country and provide basic services after years of war.

Abdullah said the government should explain the decision more clearly and consider measures such as subsidies or other assistance to help struggling households absorb the increased costs.

"The problem isn’t the fuel hike itself, it’s that the government didn’t study this before issuing the price hike. There was no clear study or strategy," he said.

President Sharaa may therefore face pressure to reverse or reduce the increase, at least temporarily, in an attempt to defuse tensions.

But the consequences of the price rise will extend beyond the immediate protests. Abdullah said the problem was beginning to threaten the country’s social peace.

Higher fuel costs are already affecting transport, with taxi drivers increasing fares and disputes emerging with passengers over the new prices. As winter approaches, the cost of heating is also likely to become another source of pressure, with many Syrians relying on mazut to heat their homes.

Yassin-Kassab said the protests showed that the government’s economic difficulties could develop into a much broader political problem, particularly as Syrians become less willing to tolerate worsening living conditions while waiting for the country’s basic infrastructure to be rebuilt.

For a government still trying to stabilise a country emerging from more than a decade of war, the protests offer a warning that economic grievances can quickly become political.

As Yassin-Kassab put it, the economic situation has the potential to "break the [post-Assad] transition."