The media office of the Minister of Energy and Water, Joe Al-Saddi, issued the following statement: Aounist MP Charbel Maroun appeared on the “Spot Shoot” platform of LebanonDebate, which has a well-known performance and suspicious agendas, on Friday, 6/19/2026, raising the issue of the oil tanker “BASILIS L”, the unloading of which was delayed in a manner inconsistent with the facts and circumstances in order to serve the narrative of his “movement”, which seeks to throw away its consequences and spread its failed and suspicious performance to others, so that the Lebanese put all The parties are in the “Free Patriotic Movement” ministerial performance category. However, the facts and steps taken by the Ministry of Energy and Water refute Maroun's false claims. Therefore, to prevent the Lebanese from being misled by those who are experts in this, we clarify the context of the oil tanker “BASILIS L”: * On 1/8/2026, in response to the request of the Lebanese Army and the needs of the security forces and public institutions contracting with oil facilities in the Ministry of Energy, the latter launched Tender No. 312 to purchase diesel oil. * On 2/18/2026, the contract was signed with the company that won the tender. At that time, the estimated price of the ship was approximately 25,393,000 USD. * On 3/8/2026, the first ship of the contract, KRITI CAPTAIN, arrived, loaded on 3/3/2026, and its price amounting to /30,482,215/D.D. was paid. This is because, based on the text of the contract, the price of the ship is calculated based on the average price during the five days preceding the loading day and the loading day and five days following the loading day. * When the ship was unloaded, the Ministry of Energy contacted the supplying company and asked it to postpone the second shipment of the contract until May 20-25, 2026, and the company agreed in principle. This step refutes what Representative Maroun and the Free Patriotic Movement claim. * The postponement step was not taken after the security institutions expressed their need to supply it in late March - early April to ensure the continuity of obtaining diesel fuel in light of the war conditions that the country and the region are going through and the crisis arising as a result of the situation in the Strait of Hormuz and for fear that it will not arrive. * On 3/28/2026, the loaded ship BASILIS L arrived on 3/26/2026, and its price had become approximately 50,000,000 USD. * On the date of the ship’s arrival, the funds belonging to the security institutions, the Lebanese army, and public institutions had not been transferred to the facilities’ account. It also took longer than usually expected to transfer these funds at the Central Bank from the Lebanese pound to the US dollar. * In order to speed up the collection of the price of the ship, the oil facilities tried to sell the local market from Al-Zahrani, but they did not succeed in doing so due to the security conditions in the south. * On 5/14/2026, the price of the ship was completed in the facilities account and the credit was opened on 5/15/2026. * A new problem arose with the correspondent bank’s refusal to enhance the credit without informing the Bank of Lebanon of the reasons that prompted its refusal. Noting that the correspondent bank had previously strengthened several credits for the supplying company, and had also previously agreed to approve this ship. * Then the Bank of Lebanon began trying to open and strengthen credit with other correspondent banks. * In light of all of the above, oil facilities bore, firstly, the unexpected global price difference as a result of the war, and secondly, fines for delays exceeding 70 days amounting to 18,000 USD. per day according to the contract, which is equivalent to /1,260,000/ USD. * On 6/4/2026, the Ministry of Energy and Water reported a response from the Bank of Lebanon stating that another bank had agreed to enhance the accreditation. * On 6/6/2026, the ship was emptied at the oil facilities in Tripoli. In conclusion, while the Lebanese state and the government, including the Ministry of Energy, headed by Minister Joe Al-Saddi, are busy taking all possible measures to limit the disastrous repercussions of the war that Lebanon has plunged into, it seems that Representative Maroun and his movement are determined to trade in the people’s pain and obstruct the efforts being made to alleviate this pain in order to beg for crumbs of “fake victories” in politics... May God protect Lebanon and its people from the “temple merchants”...