ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Syria’s energy ministry said Monday that the recent fuel price increase is “temporary” and subject to review as domestic refining capacity returns, after protests erupted across several provinces over surging prices.

Syria raised fuel prices Sunday by up to 40 percent for diesel and around 28 percent for petrol, prompting protests in Hama, Daraa, Raqqa, Aleppo and Deir ez-Zor provinces. Footage showed groups of demonstrators blocking roads with tires set ablaze.

The energy ministry said the increase was introduced to narrow the gap between the cost of importing fuel products and their prices on the domestic market, adding that the measure was temporary, state media reported Monday.

The ministry also said the Baniyas refinery is undergoing an overhaul expected to last two months, reducing domestic production and increasing the need for imported fuel products during the maintenance period.

“The ministry stressed that the price adjustment is temporary and linked to exceptional circumstances, and that costs and prices will remain subject to review according to developments in global markets and the return of local refining capacities after the completion of the maintenance of the Baniyas refinery,” the ministry said in a statement carried by state media.

On Friday, the state-owned Syrian Petroleum Company said the Baniyas refinery would undergo an extensive overhaul aimed at increasing its processing capacity from 80,000 to 130,000 barrels per day.

The price increase comes as global oil and fuel costs have risen amid disruptions to oil supplies and shipping routes linked to the ongoing US-Iran conflict. The Strait of Hormuz, a major global oil transit route, has been heavily disrupted during the conflict.

Syria has been considered a key location to reduce reliance on the strait by moving oil straight to the Mediterranean through its territory.