Oil & Gas

Iraqi fuel shipments exported through Syria to the Mediterranean have steadily increased since they started in March, providing Baghdad with an alternative route for moving fuel to international markets amid disruptions and closures affecting the Strait of Hormuz as a result of the regional war. According to data obtained exclusively by The Syria Report, between March and mid-September, the number of tankers crossing from Iraq has risen from 44 a day to around 1,500, and monthly shipments through Syria have jumped from 245,000 barrels to 8.43 million barrels.

Syria's Ministry of Energy announced that the country's crude oil production reached 14.8 million barrels during the first half of 2026, equivalent to around 82,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd).

Record participation at this year’s Syria International Petroleum, Energy and Mineral Wealth Expo (SyrPetro) reflected growing interest in Syria’s hydrocarbons sector, as government officials and private companies used the event to advance discussions on projects spanning upstream production, infrastructure rehabilitation and energy services. However, no memoranda of understanding (MoUs) or formal agreements were concluded at the exhibition. 

U.S. bank JP Morgan Chase, Qatar National Bank and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank are set to lend USD 7 billion to the Qatari Power International Holding - owned by the influential Khayyat family - to build several energy and transport infrastructure projects in Syria, according to unnamed sources quoted by Bloomberg.

Last week, a delegation of  U.S. energy giant Chevron met with Syrian officials in Damascus to discuss converting the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in February into a legally binding agreement for the exploration of Syria’s first offshore block. Negotiations are progressing slowly due to unresolved maritime border disputes between Syria and Lebanon. The delegation also opened negotiations to  rehabilitate the historic Kirkuk-Banias oil pipeline.

Syrian-British businessman Ayman Asfari and the Syrian-Qatari Al-Khayyat family, two influential actors with extensive experience in energy and infrastructure, have recently signed a deal with the Syrian government to rehabilitate and expand Syria’s gas production. This agreement is one of 11 memoranda of understanding (MoUs) signed between investors and the government in post-Assad Syria that has been converted into a full development contract, providing a clearer picture of the emerging key players in Syria’s hydrocarbon sector.

Australian oil and gas company AXP Energy Limited announced on Monday an agreement that grants it the right to earn a 25 percent participating interest in Block 9, an onshore Production Sharing Contract (PSC) covering 10,039 square kilometres in north-west Syria, stretching from the coast to the edge of the Palmyrid basin.

Iraq is moving ahead with plans to significantly increase crude oil exports through Syria, a development that could strengthen Syria’s role as a regional energy transit corridor. The long-idle Kirkuk-Banias pipeline remains out of service, but Baghdad’s decision to expand truck-based exports is set to substantially increase oil flows into Syria over the coming months.

The Syrian oil sector has entered a new and complex phase marked by ambitious production targets, expanding foreign partnerships, internal institutional tensions and contradictions in energy policies, and continued reliance on external energy supplies. Oil production has increased from 110,000 bopd in January to 133,000 bopd in April. The Chief Executive Officer of the Syrian Petroleum Company Youssef Qablawi revealed that an unnamed American company will operate in the Rumeilan oil field in Hassakeh governorate in partnership with SPC.

The Syrian Petroleum Company (SPC) has signed a formal contract with Saudi company ADES to increase gas production in central Syria. This development comes amid improvements in oil production in northeastern Syria and renewed interest from international energy companies, suggesting a continued momentum in Syria’s hydrocarbons sector. The government has forecast a substantial rise in oil and gas income in 2026.

During the Eid Al-Fitr celebrations last Friday, Syria’s Transitional President Ahmad Al-Sharaa announced that the country’s GDP grew between 30 and 35 percent in 2025 and projected that this year GDP will return to pre-conflict levels. In parallel, the Minister of Finance, Mohammad Yusr Barniya, announced that the 2026 budget totals USD 10.5 billion, a stark increase from the USD 3.5 billion budget from last year. Neither Mr Sharaa, nor Mr Barniya, explained the methodology used to produce these numbers. The GDP data, in particular, appears particularly disconnected from reality.

With the war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran entering its fourth week and no end in sight, some observers argue that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz could position Syria as an alternative gateway for oil flows from Iraq and food supplies towards the Gulf countries. However, analysts estimate that the negative impact of the regional war on the Syrian economy is likely to outweigh any positive spillover effects. 

The British-Dutch multinational Shell Group is moving toward a final financial settlement ahead of a potential exit from its cornerstone assets in Syria, while IPR Energy Group and Gulfsands Petroleum, are signalling a renewed interest in re-engagement.  The state’s objective of restoring production in aging fields intersects with the strategic calculations of oil majors weighing risk, reserves, and long-term returns. Whether these discussions translate into tangible increases in output in the coming years will depend on the outcome of the ongoing negotiations, the security environment, and the broader regulatory and commercial framework governing Syria’s upstream sector.

The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Syrian Petroleum Company (SPC), U.S. energy giant Chevron and Qatar-based Power International Holding (PIH) marks the most serious step to date towards offshore oil and gas exploration in Syria’s territorial waters. After nearly two decades of unrealised plans, failed tenders and stalled contracts due to the conflict and sanctions, this MoU signals a thaw after years of stagnation.

Following the Syrian government’s takeover of the Raqqa and Deir-ez-Zor governorates and parts of the southern countryside of the Hassakeh governorate, Damascus has regained access to the core of Syria’s oil and gas wealth. A source at the Syrian Petroleum Company explained that oil production west of the Euphrates stood at 10,600 barrels of oil per day (bopd), and that, following the takeover of fields in the northeast, production has increased to 26,000 bopd, but could reach 45,000 bopd in a few months, pending maintenance works.  

In the span of two weeks, the geopolitical and military landscape in Syria has been upended, with Damascus taking the entirety of the Raqqa and Deir-ez-Zor governorates and advancing in the southern Hassakeh countryside, de facto putting an end to the Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria (AANES).

Over the past weeks, most areas under Syrian government control have witnessed an increase in electricity hours. The Ministry of Energy attributed this rise to the supply of approximately four million cubic metres of gas per day under a gas purchase agreement with Jordan concluded on January 8.

In mid-December, the Ministry of Energy announced the signing of a new investment agreement between the General Establishment of Geology and Mineral Resources (GEGMR) and Serbia’s Elixir Group, marking one of the most significant foreign-linked contracts in the sector since the fall of the former regime. The agreement comes amid a renewed official discourse portraying phosphate as a strategic resource capable of generating foreign currency revenues and supporting broader reconstruction efforts.

The Syrian Investment Agency (SIA) issued several decisions in November (See Official Gazette issue no. 44) regarding industrial projects in Syria.

In the Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria (AANES) region, energy needs stand at around 1,340 megawatts (MW), but local production, from the Suweidiyeh and Jbeisse power plants and the two power plants at the Euphrates and Tishreen dam, only generates between 150 and 175 MW, several AANES officials told The Syria Report.