Syrian President al-Sharaa and US Chevron Discuss Cooperation in Oil and Gas Exploration

(Patria) - Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa met with delegations from US oil giant Chevron and the Syrian Petroleum Company to discuss cooperation in exploring oil and gas fields off the Syrian coast, the Syrian state news agency reported on Tuesday, as carried by Reuters.
The state news agency did not provide further details about the talks. Chevron did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.

The meeting was also attended by representatives of Qatar's UCC Holding, the Syrian state news agency said. The company recently led a consortium of international companies that signed a memorandum of understanding for the development of major energy production projects with foreign investment worth around seven billion dollars.

Due to the destruction of energy infrastructure during the fourteen-year war, Syria today produces only a fraction of the electricity it needs, although electricity supply has significantly improved in recent months thanks to gas from Azerbaijan and Qatar.

Damascus recently committed to increasing electricity supply.

Domestic natural gas production in Syria is estimated to have fallen to three billion cubic meters in 2023 from 8.7 billion cubic meters in 2011 due to the war.