Türkiye is gearing up to help address Syria's critical energy requirements as the war-torn nation embarks on reconstruction after the ouster of the longtime ruler Bashar Assad, a senior official said on Monday.
Speaking to reporters following a Cabinet meeting, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar highlighted the dire state of Syria's energy infrastructure, which has been crippled by 13 years of civil war. That made it highly reliant on imports from Iran.
In one of the biggest turning points for the Middle East in generations, opposition forces seized the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Sunday, and Assad fled to Russia following more than 50 years of his family's brutal rule.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday reaffirmed Ankara was ready to support Syria's rebuilding in any way it can.
"Electricity is an essential need. The infrastructure is severely lacking – there's virtually nothing in place," Bayraktar said.
He emphasized the importance of utilizing energy as a tool to address these urgent needs, noting that Türkiye has already begun preparations to support Syria, despite not yet receiving a formal request for assistance.
"There hasn't been an official request from Syria, but public discourse around this issue seems to be forming. While no formal steps have been taken, we are ready," Bayraktar remarked.
The minister also touched upon the potential revival of a past proposal to transport Qatari natural gas to Europe through Syria and Türkiye.
Reflecting on the prospect of such a project, Bayraktar stated, "For a Syria that has regained its unity and stability, why not?"
Such an initiative would require ensuring the safety of the pipeline. We hope it will be so. If conditions are met, we could see many projects materialize."
The pipeline project could connect European countries and Türkiye to Qatar through Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria.
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.
Prior to sanctions, Syria produced some 383,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil and liquids, according to a previous analysis by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
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 meters (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.
Northern Syria has suffered from the occupation of the PKK terrorist group's Syrian branch, the YPG, which took advantage of the power vacuum created by the civil war and seized one-third of the country under the guise of fighting against Daesh with the support of the U.S. since 2015.
It also controls the region's oil wells – Syria's largest – and had smuggled oil to the Syrian regime despite U.S. sanctions, to generate revenue for its activities.
Block 26, which is operated by U.K.-based energy group GulfSands Petroleum in northeast Syria, is currently under force majeure due to U.K. 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 kilometers).
The gas field was producing 80 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. It also operated the Ebla oil field 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 the Syrian regime to protect oil fields 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.
