How has the fall of Assad impacted Syria’s energy sector?

Syria’s 13-year civil war crippled the country’s energy sector, making it highly reliant on imports from Iran.

Below are facts about Syria’s energy sector.

** Syria has not exported oil since late 2011, when international sanctions came into force, and has become dependent on fuel imports from Iran to keep power supplies running.

** Oil and liquid production fell to 40,000 bpd in 2023, according to separate estimates from the Energy Institute.

** Natural gas production fell from 8.7 billion cubic metres (bcm) in 2011 to 3 bcm in 2023, according to BP and Energy Institute estimates.

** Shell and TotalEnergies were the main international energy companies operating in the country.

WHO CONTROLS THE OIL AND GAS FIELDS?

** The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias, backed by the U.S. and its allies, controls most of the quarter of Syria that lies east of the Euphrates, including the former Islamic State capital of Raqqa and some of the country’s biggest oilfields, as well as some territory to the west of the river.

** Block 26, which is operated by UK-based energy group GulfSands Petroleum, in northeast Syria is currently under force majeure due to UK sanctions. GulfSands has said the assets remain in “good order and operationally fit”, adding that “re-entry preparations are well advanced for when sanctions permit recommencement of operations”.

** Canada’s Suncor Energy Inc suspended its Syria operations in 2011. Its primary asset is the Ebla development located in the Central Syrian Gas Basin covering more than 300,000 acres (approximately 1,251 square kilometres). The gas field was producing 80 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. It also operated the Ebla oilfield project, which began producing approximately 1,000 bpd of oil in December 2010.

** The U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions in 2018 on Russian company Evro Polis Ltd, which it said had a contract with Syria’s government to protect Syrian oilfields in exchange for a 25% share in oil and gas production from the fields. A Middle East source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday that the Ebla fields were still under Russian military control.

** Evro Polis had been controlled by Yevgeniy Prigozhin, the late head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group that was active in Syria and the war in Ukraine. The source said the Russian military took over control of the fields after the demise of Wagner in Syria.