Syria oil minister calls to lift sanctions after regime’s fall

The Minister of Oil in the Syrian Interim Government, Ghiath Diab, called on Sunday to remove sanctions imposed on Damascus now the regime of Bashar Al-Assad has been ousted.

Diab said the oil sector in Syria suffers from several difficulties and challenges, which have hindered securing oil derivatives, adding that a number of oil wells are still outside the Syrian state’s control which is one of the biggest obstacles.

In 2010, oil represented a fifth of Syria’s GDP, half of its exports, and more than half of the state’s revenues, as the state produced 390,000 barrels of oil per day, before declining in 2023 to 40,000 barrels per day.

Syrian oil is produced from two main regions; the northeast, especially in Hasakah, and the east, extending along the Euphrates River to the Iraqi border near Deir Ez-Zor, with small fields south of Raqqa, while gas resources are concentrated in the areas extending to Palmyra in the centre of the country.

The minister called for lifting the sanctions imposed on Syria so that it can restore the pace of economic life.

“There is no point in maintaining the sanctions imposed on Syria after getting rid of the former regime and its allies. The regime relied on its allies to supply it with oil, and was not affected by these sanctions as the new Syria is affected today,” he added.

Meanwhile, Justice Minister, Shadi Al-Waisi, said the state will prosecute those responsible for crimes inside Syria and will pursue those who fled abroad.

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