Baghdad and several other Iraqi provinces faced renewed shortages of petrol and kerosene, with long queues at filling stations and dozens of stations closing, Shafaq News reported on September 3.

The latest recurrence exposes how far Iraq's fuel problem runs beyond logistics and its relationship with Iran, which it has relied heavily on for imports of vehicle fuels.  This is even more damaging as Iraq holds the world's fifth-largest crude reserves and the second-largest Arab refining capacity. The country cannot reliably supply its own pumps after foreign partners pulled out of key refineries during the war, leaving output capacity sharply reduced. 

This disruption came only about 15 days after a previous supply crisis eased, pointing to a structural shortfall rather than a one-off delay.

Large numbers of vehicles queued outside operating stations, with lines stretching long distances and causing congestion on several Baghdad roads and bridges. Dozens of stations had shut, though the reasons were not immediately clear. No official explanation had been issued.

Drivers told Shafaq News that petrol shortages had become increasingly frequent, calling on authorities to clarify the causes. Previous shortages have been linked to supply disruptions; in August, the oil ministry attributed a temporary shortage to a gap between consumption and supply and a delayed shipment of improved petrol.

The deeper cause traces to the war between Iran and the United States. The withdrawal of foreign partners from Iraqi refineries during the conflict depressed output, with the oil ministry declaring a petrol crisis in June, Iraqi newspapers reported.

One refining unit in the south producing about 4mn litres a day of high-octane petrol, commissioned in February, stalled after the executing company pulled out because of regional conditions.

Iraq's exposure runs wider still. Constraints on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz led Baghdad to cut southern oil output and declare force majeure at foreign-operated fields, according to an American University of Iraq, Sulaimani energy analysis. The report warned that Iraq's dependence on a single commodity and a single maritime route through Hormuz rapidly translates disruption into lost revenue and fiscal strain.

Iraq sells petrol at among the world's cheapest prices, which sustains heavy domestic demand. The war began on February 28, when the US and Israel struck Iran, after which Iran closed the strait, through which about 20% of the world's oil and gas passed before the conflict.