Syria signed a memorandum of understanding for what it described as its first offshore oil and gas field development, tying the project to Chevron and a Qatar-based investor, according to the Associated Press. The agreement was formalized in Damascus by Syria’s state-owned petroleum company in the presence of the U.S. special envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack.
The deal was signed by the Syrian Petroleum Company’s leadership with Chevron, the U.S. energy firm, and Qatar-based Power International Holding, the AP reported. Syria’s state news agency, SANA, said the memorandum aims to strengthen strategic partnerships in the energy sector and to cover cooperation in offshore exploration and the development of oil and gas resources in Syria’s territorial waters.
In its account of the signing, SANA also said the agreement is intended to support investment and development across the energy sector more broadly. The AP described the memorandum as Syria’s first formal step toward offshore energy exploration as the government seeks to expand hydrocarbon production and attract foreign partners.
Syrian Petroleum Company CEO Youssef Kabalawi said the offshore energy agreement is “the most important” deal of its kind in Syria’s history, according to AP reporting. He told the group that “Before the summer, God willing, we will start mobilization and drilling,” and said it could take up to four years to reach gas reserves.
The AP said Syria’s oil and gas sector was severely disrupted by nearly 15 years of conflict, which it described as killing hundreds of thousands of people and causing widespread destruction. Before the conflict began in March 2011 with an uprising against then-President Bashar Assad’s government, the AP said the oil sector was a pillar of the Syrian economy, with production of about 380,000 barrels a day and exports, mostly to Europe, bringing in more than $3 billion in 2010.
AP also reported that oil revenues at the time provided around a quarter of the funds for the government budget. It said Syrian government forces captured wide areas of northeastern and oil-rich eastern Syria last month from Kurdish-led fighters, describing that shift as potentially paving the way for exploration on some of the country’s largest oil fields.
The AP said Syria’s new authorities, who came to power after Assad was removed in December 2024, are trying to revive the country’s economy. The offshore memorandum, signed in Damascus, represents a further effort to bring in foreign partners as Syria seeks to restart hydrocarbon development beyond its existing onshore production.
The Associated Press report did not specify the terms of the memorandum beyond its focus on cooperation for offshore exploration and development in Syria’s territorial waters.