Morocco’s energy import bill has surged sharply this year, part of a wider shock rippling across four Arab economies hit hard by turmoil in the Middle East. According to a new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA), spending on imports of crude oil, refined products and natural gas across Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia and Lebanon has climbed 66 percent since the start of 2026, squeezing government budgets and raising costs for households and businesses alike.
The Paris-based agency’s figures show combined monthly spending on oil and gas imports across the four countries rising from roughly $2.9 billion in January to $4.6 billion in March, before reaching $4.8 billion in June. Refined petroleum products accounted for the bulk of the increase, while natural gas import costs doubled over the same period, driven largely by Egypt’s expanding purchases of liquefied natural gas.
For Morocco, a country that imports the vast majority of its energy needs, the spike adds fresh pressure on public finances already stretched by global price volatility and the costs of an ongoing shift toward renewables. The IEA notes that rising import bills are narrowing the fiscal room governments across the region have to shield households and businesses from higher prices, a concern that comes as several administrations, including Morocco’s, are weighing measures to protect purchasing power amid broader price pressures.
Egypt offers the starkest illustration of the squeeze. Its fuel import costs nearly doubled in the first half of 2026, prompting authorities in July to raise household electricity tariffs by an average of 12 percent, while shielding the lowest-income consumers. Cairo still spends roughly $1.9 billion a year on electricity subsidies, a safety net the IEA says is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain.
Higher global prices, however, have not translated into windfalls for every regional producer. Disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and attacks on energy infrastructure have cut exports for several countries even as benchmark prices climbed. In Iraq, associated gas output fell 60 percent from pre-war levels, contributing to a summer electricity shortfall estimated at 35 gigawatts and a gasoline shortage of around six million litres a day. Libya, despite holding some of Africa’s largest oil reserves, covers only about a third of domestic fuel consumption locally, with an import bill nearing $1 billion a month.
The IEA notes that countries across the Middle East and North Africa spent an average of $250 billion a year on fossil fuel subsidies over the past decade, including more than $80 billion on electricity alone in 2023. The agency warns the fallout from higher prices will hit hardest in conflict-affected states with weak infrastructure, chiefly Lebanon, Yemen and Gaza. In Lebanon, which imports about 95 percent of its energy needs, private generators supply roughly half of the country’s electricity, with some households paying subscription fees of up to $300 a month.
To address these vulnerabilities, the IEA is urging the region to rethink energy security beyond simply holding oil and gas reserves, calling for diversified export routes, deeper regional electricity interconnection, greater investment in renewables, and subsidies targeted at the most vulnerable households rather than blanket price support. For Morocco, which has spent recent years building out solar and wind capacity as part of a broader energy diversification drive, the findings underscore both the wisdom of that strategy and the urgency of accelerating it as the regional outlook remains clouded by instability.
