Bassam Kalaji, head of the bakers’ association, told a local radio station last week that half of the capital’s private bakeries had stopped work because of the shortage.
Abu Mohammed, 25, said he used firewood to run his Damascus bakery.
“The crisis has been going on for months, but I never thought that one day I would not be able to get a liter of fuel oil,” he said.
He said instead of increasing prices he has also reduced the size of his traditional pizza-style bread – usually served with olive oil and thyme or cheese.
The nose-diving local currency hit a new record low this month of more than 6,000 Syrian pounds against the dollar on the black market, compared with 47 in 2011.
Abu Mohammed said, “This is the longest and most difficult crisis we’ve ever faced… and we’ve been through many other crises.”
