The supply of gas oil at government-sponsored prices is becoming increasingly scarce in various parts of the country, although Damascus remained little affected until now.

Dana Gas has denied it was in talks with the Syrian Government to develop any project in the country.

Gulfsands Petroleum has announced that it has not received payment for its August production, raising fears for the company's prospects as well as for the government's finances.

Loon Lattakia, the Syrian subsidiary of Kulczyk Oil, a Canadian-Polish independent oil company, has announced that it is suspending exploration works in Block 9.

Demand for gas oil rose 11 percent in the first nine months of this year on the back of a 25 percent reduction in its retail price decided earlier this year, data from the Ministry of Oil show.

Gulfsands Petroleum has announced that the Syrian government has asked it to lower its production even further, confirming the difficulties the Syrian authorities still have in the marketing of their oil.

On September 15, the Syrian government raised the price at which it sells fuel oil to private corporations and state entities by 53 percent.

INA Naftaplin, a Croatian oil company, has become the latest firm to announce a reduction in production in its Syrian fields as the government faces difficulties finding buyers for its crude.

The Syrian government has extended for a second time a bidding round for exploration in its offshore waters as Europe readies an investment ban on the oil sector.

Great Wall Drilling Company, a subsidiary of CNPC, the Chinese oil giant, is suspending operations in Syria because of the political unrest, according to Chinese media.

Gulfsands Petroleum, a UK-based oil company, has disclosed its ties to Rami Makhlouf, a prominent local businessman recently put under sanctions by the European Union.

There are currently just under two dozen international companies operating in the Syrian oil industry from the exploration and production sectors to related services. The companies are listed below.

Updated August 22: IPR, an independent oil and gas company based in the United States, has said that it made a modest new discovery in Block 24 with a flow rate of 100 barrels of oil and 10 million cubic feet of natural gas a day.

The Syrian Petroleum Company has made a new gas discovery in the region of Qara north of Damascus, according to the Minister of Oil.

Gulfsands Petroleum has announced that a new well in its Khurbet east find tested at a flow rate of 5,516 barrels of oil per day as the company commissioned a new production facility.