The authorities also canceled classes at several universities. Several businesspersons, who had been illegally selling gasoline, diesel, and fuel oil and stockpiling oil products, were detained during a number of raids, the cabinet said.
"The work of state institutions, except those whose work must be uninterrupted, will be stopped on Sundays, December 11 and 18, due to the situation with oil products resulting from the sanctions and unilateral economic measures imposed on Syria," the cabinet said in a statement.
Syrian Internal Trade and Consumer Protection Minister Amr Nazir Salem told the Sham FM broadcaster that the authorities will not would bakeries and hospitals to be shut down due to fuel shortages. He said that 142 gas stations have already been closed in the country due to violations of trade laws, adding that the purchase of fuel for the authorities is currently an impossible burden because it requires foreign currency. He said that there is no deadline for solving the fuel shortage situation.
Syrian Oil and Mineral Resources Minister Bassam Tohme told the broadcaster that the crisis began 50 days ago, but the government has been managing the crisis while using oil reserves.
The situation has been worsened by the delay in the arrival of oil tankers, he said, adding that a tanker with 700,000 barrels of oil arrived on December 3 in the Syrian port of Banyas, which had been held off the Greek coast for several months at the request of the United States. Tohme said that one tanker would not resolve the crisis.
Syria has been facing fuel shortages due to imposed sanctions for several years. Syria consumes about 100,000 barrels of oil a day but produces only 24,000 barrels. Many oil-producing facilities in Syria are either destroyed or remain beyond the government's control, and the delivery of oil and petroleum products to the country is extremely difficult due to the Western sanctions.