BEIRUT: Syrian oil ministry spokesman Ahmed Suleiman told Reuters on Saturday that Kurdish-led authorities in the northeast Syrian Arab Republic had started supplying oil to the central government in Damascus from local fields they oversee. It was the first documented shipment from the oil-rich northeast of Syria to the Islamist-led administration that was put in place following the overthrow of previous leader Bashar Assad by rebels in December.
Suleiman stated that the oil came from fields in the provinces of Hasakah and Deir el-Zor, but he did not elaborate on the specifics of the agreement or the amount supplied. In 2010, a year before anti-Assad protests descended into a nearly 14-year conflict that decimated Syria’s infrastructure, economy, and oil production, the country exported 380,000 barrels per day (bpd).
Although US and European sanctions made it difficult to import and export legitimately, oilfields changed hands several times before the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces finally took control of the strategic northeast resources. The European Union is planning to halt its sanctions pertaining to energy, transportation, and reconstruction, while the United States granted a six-month sanctions reprieve in January that permits certain energy transactions.
According to multiple trade sources who spoke to Reuters, Syria is currently looking to buy oil through local middlemen after its initial post-Assad import auctions failed to attract significant interest from large traders because of financial risks and sanctions.
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