Syria to prioritize energy production in new era

ANKARA

Syria will prioritize energy production in the new era of the country after the 61-year Baath regime was overthrown in early December.

The Syrian energy sector has been severely damaged since the civil war in 2011. Electricity and fuel are staples to maintain and sustain life going back to normal in Syria.

Syria’s energy capacity was around 9,000 megawatts in 2012, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). The 13-year-old civil war saw the complete destruction of 15 out of 39 energy facilities and the partial damage of 10, while more than half of the country’s electricity infrastructure and transmission lines were disabled.

The estimated damage the Syrian electricity sector suffered is at $40 billion in direct costs and $80 billion in indirect costs.

Syria’s capabilities in generating electricity also fell short, as a 2021 bill for the use of renewable energy resources, which aimed to utilize the country’s solar and wind power potentials, resulted in 100 megawatts generated via its solar energy capacity. Syria boasts high solar radiation due to its location and the number of sunny days observed reach 300 days per year.

Syria’s wind energy potential is estimated to be at 80,000 megawatts, according to a study by a technical provider ScienceDirect.

Meanwhile, Syria’s proven oil reserves are estimated to be around 7 billion barrels. The country’s oil and gas belt starts from the northeast and continues towards the southwest, according to the recent discoveries.

Researchers found wells with oil in Aleppo and western Syria, while Homs stood out with the largest gas resources.

Some 12 fields around Al-Hasakah with four condensate-gas fields and a total oil equivalent reserve of 1.3 billion barrels were found, according to a report by Türkiye Energy Strategies and Politics Research Center (TESPAM).

The report found that the cities of Qamishli and Al-Malikiyah, both at the Syria-Türkiye border in the northeast, boast 25 fields, including one condensate-gas field, and they are estimated to have oil equivalent reserves of around 4.5 billion barrels.

The Deir ez-Zor region in eastern Syria is estimated to boast 12 fields with 1.1 billion barrels of oil in total.

Syria’s daily oil production averaged at 400,000 barrels in 2008-2010 prior to the civil war but this figure fell to 25,000 barrels in 2015, the US EIA said.

Reports say that despite Syria’s capability in self-sufficiency via its gas and oil resources, the reserves are located in areas under the control of terrorist organizations.

Syria may reach 1M barrels of oil in 5 years, generating $22B in annual revenue

Oguzhan Akyener, president of TESPAM, told Anadolu that the terrorist organizations holding 80% of Syria’s fields need to be eliminated to utilize the country’s oil potential, and oil-related legislation and other legal prerequisites to take full advantage of Syria’s reserves in the state-building process need to be implemented.

“Many countries in the West started to establish contact with the new interim government of Syria, so the embargoes and sanctions will be lifted, but in the event that they are not, Türkiye will still be able to create an opportunity to sell Syrian oil, but the most important thing is utilizing the oil, and the logistics of transporting the oil,” he said.

“The most logical and the fastest way to move the process is to bring Syrian oil to Türkiye to process in Turkish refineries to turn some of it into products and meet the needs of Syria’s energy deficit—the situation is dire as even diesel and gasoline is hard to find. Oil transportation through Türkiye would be faster and more practical,” he added.

Akyener stated that if Syria’s oil production reaches 1 million barrels in five years, half of it would be used for investments, and it would generate around $21 billion to $22 billion in annual revenue, citing TESPAM calculations.

“This figure is too little to be appetizing to global players but big enough for state rebuilding efforts, and in that process, Turkish firms can carry out all kinds of fine details from the beginning to end of Syria’s state building,” he added.

*Writing by Emir Yildirim in Istanbul