As winter approaches, low-income families in al-Hasakah governorate (northeastern Syria) have begun searching for alternative ways to heat their homes as rising fuel prices make diesel increasingly unaffordable, while heating fuel allocations provided in previous years remain unavailable.

Difficult living conditions are pushing some residents to buy firewood in small quantities, while other families, particularly in rural areas, are collecting various combustible materials, including wood scraps, animal dung, old clothes and shoes, boxes, and polystyrene, to burn in wood-burning stoves.

Fawzi al-Saleh, a resident of al-Hasakah city, said difficult living conditions had forced him to buy wood in small quantities for heating because he could not afford enough diesel to cover his family’s full needs.

He added that securing heating fuel has become an additional burden on his family at a time when daily income is insufficient to cover basic needs, noting that buying limited amounts of firewood has become a way for him to reduce heating costs during the winter.

Residents say the problem is not limited to the price of heating fuel, but also involves their ability to secure sufficient quantities throughout the winter months. A household needs hundreds of liters of diesel, making heating costs high compared with the incomes of most low-income families.

 “Whatever Combustible Materials Are Available”

Hamad al-Mutlaq, from the al-Hasakah countryside, said rising heating costs had pushed a number of families in the area to rely on firewood and whatever combustible materials they have available.

According to al-Mutlaq, not all families can afford to buy the quantities of firewood or diesel they need. Some therefore collect animal dung, wood, cotton crop residue, old clothes, boxes, polystyrene, and other materials to burn in their stoves.

The consequences of rising heating costs are not limited to families buying fuel. In recent weeks, some trees in parks and wooded areas have been targeted for cutting to obtain firewood, according to social activist Hussam Abdul Majid.

Abdul Majid told *Enab Baladi* that firewood prices vary according to the type of wood and the area, with a ton of olive wood costing around six million old Syrian pounds, equivalent to 60,000 new Syrian pounds, or about $435 at the current parallel-market exchange rate of roughly 138 new Syrian pounds to the US dollar.

A ton of oak and pine wood costs around 55,000 new Syrian pounds, or about $400, compared with about 15,000 pounds, or $109, for a ton of cypress wood and around 27,000 pounds, or $196, for a ton of almond wood, according to Abdul Majid.

Abdul Majid said that high firewood prices, combined with high diesel prices, make securing heating a serious challenge for low-income families, particularly as winter approaches.

He added that residents are aware of the health risks associated with burning some materials not intended for heating, but financial hardship pushes some to use them to provide their families with a minimum level of warmth.

 No Heating Fuel Allocations

In previous years, families in al-Hasakah governorate received heating diesel allocations through cards issued by the Autonomous Administration, at a rate of 300 liters per family and a price of 1,100 old Syrian pounds per liter, equivalent to 11 new Syrian pounds.

Distribution usually began in July, allowing families to secure part of their heating needs before the onset of winter.

This year, however, the allocations stopped amid changes in the governorate since the beginning of 2026 and the accompanying gradual transfer of service institutions into Syrian government structures.

Without these allocations, families are now required to purchase their heating needs on the market, at a time when fuel prices have risen compared with previous years.

 Diesel Prices

On September 13, the Syrian government’s Ministry of Energy raised petroleum product prices, bringing the price of diesel to 175 new Syrian pounds per liter. The price of 95-octane gasoline reached about 195 pounds per liter, while 90-octane gasoline reached around 185 pounds.

Following protests in several areas of Syria that began in al-Hasakah governorate, the Ministry of Energy announced on September 17 that it was moving toward offering different types of diesel at varying prices.

Energy Minister Mohammad al-Bashir said at the time that the ministry had approved a proposal to offer subsidized diesel at 115 new Syrian pounds per liter for heating, agriculture, and eligible groups, alongside diesel priced at 150 pounds per liter for productive and service uses. Standard-specification diesel would continue to be sold at 175 pounds per liter.

Waiting for Subsidized Fuel

For residents who spoke to Enab Baladi, the main questions are when subsidized diesel will become available, how it will be distributed, which groups will be eligible, and whether it will reduce heating costs before winter.

The crisis comes in a governorate that has undergone changes in control and administration this year. The Syrian army took control of large parts of the southern and eastern countryside and portions of the western countryside, while the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) remained deployed in major cities, including al-Hasakah and Qamishli.

On January 29, the Syrian government and the SDF agreed to begin integrating military, security, and service institutions into state institutions, with implementation of the agreement beginning gradually in February.

As arrangements to reorganize institutions and services in the governorate continue, families face an immediate challenge as winter approaches: finding a form of heating they can afford amid limited incomes and high fuel and firewood prices.