Syria on Monday exported 600,000 barrels of heavy crude oil from its Tartus port as part of a deal with a trading firm, a Syrian energy official told Reuters, the first known official export of Syrian oil since 2011.
Syria exported 380,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) in 2010, a year before protests against Bashar Assad's rule spiraled into a nearly 14-year war that devastated the country's economy and infrastructure, including crude production.
Assad was toppled in December last year and the new government that replaced him pledged to revive Syria's economy.
Riyad al-Joubasi, assistant director for oil and gas at Syria's Energy Ministry, told Reuters the heavy crude oil had been sold to B Serve Energy. Reuters could not immediately reach B Serve for comment.
The Energy Ministry said in a written statement that the oil was exported on the Nissos Christiana tanker.
Al-Joubasi said it had been extracted from several Syrian fields but did not specify which ones.
Most Syrian oil fields lie in the northeast.
Oilfields changed hands multiple times during Syria's war, and U.S. and European sanctions complicated both legitimate exports and imports. Sanctions remained in place for several months after Assad's ouster, making energy imports difficult for Syria's new administration.
But after U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order in June to lift American sanctions on Syria, U.S.-based firms began developing a master plan to help explore and extract Syrian oil and gas.
Syria has also signed an $800 million memorandum of understanding with DP World to develop, manage and operate a multipurpose terminal at Tartus, after Syria canceled a contract with a Russian firm that had operated the port under Assad.
