Petroleum industry in Syria

The petroleum industry in Syria forms a major part of the economy of Syria. According to the International Monetary Fund, before the Syrian Civil War, oil sales for 2010 were projected to generate $3.2 billion for the Syrian government and accounted for 25.1% of the state's revenue.[1]

Syria is a relatively small oil producer, that accounted for just 0.5% of the global production in 2010,[2][3] falling to less than 0.05% by 2016.[4] Although Syria is not a major oil exporter by Middle Eastern standards, oil is a large industry forming a major component of the Syrian economy, because of Syria's extremely low GDP per capita. Syria's oil sector has been hit by the Civil War and international sanctions imposed on Syria.

Syria's two biggest oil companies are the Syrian Petroleum Company (SPC), which is owned by the Syrian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, and Al-Furat Petroleum Company which is 50% owned by General Petroleum Corporation and the other 50% are foreign owned. The joint venture of AFPC currently includes General Petroleum Corporation with 50%, Syria Shell Petroleum Development with 32%, and the remainder held by Deminex, which is owned by Himalaya Energy Syria, a consortium of China National Petroleum Company and India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation.[5] As of December 2011 Shell has suspended operations in Syria due to EU sanctions.[6] Another important consortium is Deir Ez Zor Petroleum Company, owned by SPC and France's Total. Total suspended operations in the country from December 2011.[7] A more recent entrant is the United Kingdom's Gulfsands Petroleum. As of February 2012, Gulfsands has suspended its Syrian operations due to EU sanctions.[8]

  1. ^ IMF Country Report No. 10/86 (PDF). March 2010. p. 17. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  2. ^ Fineren, Daniel (14 August 2011). "Factbox: Syria's energy sector". Reuters. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  3. ^ "BP Statistical Review of World Energy June 2011" (PDF). British Petroleum. pp. 6-8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  4. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). www.bp.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 June 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference EIA was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Shell to quit Syria after EU extends sanctions". Financial Times. 2 December 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  7. ^ "Total: To Stop Operations With General Petroleum Corp Of Syria". Wall Street Journal. 5 December 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  8. ^ "Block 26, Syria". Gulfsands Petroleum. Archived from the original on 12 September 2012. Retrieved 28 August 2012.