Gas crisis in Syria to end in four days

Syrian Oil Minister Sufian Allaw stressed that the gas crisis in Syria would end within four days, blaming the recent shortage in gas cylinders on threats by armed groups to attack freight trains that transfer gas from the northwestern coastal town of Banias to the gas filling station in the Damascus suburb of Adra. Allaw, speaking in an interview broadcasted by the Syrian TV, confirmed that two freight trains carrying gas arrived in Adra over the past two days to meet gas needs in Damascus, its suburbs and Quneitra, some 67 km south of Damascus. He said Banias train ensures 80 percent of gas needs in Damascus. The minister pointed out that threats of assaulting trains have led to the suspension of train trips from the north to Damascus since two weeks ago, triggering off a decline in the daily output from 65,000 to 40,000 gas cylinders. Allaw said the ministry has raised the ceiling of daily production to its maximum level to reach between 63000 and 65000 gas cylinders.