The challenge of providing oil derivatives to generate electricity, and securing energy carriers for workshops and factories in order to move the wheel of production that has stopped in the country, represents the most prominent challenges facing the Syrian state with its new administration.
With the fall of the Syrian regime, many promises were announced from Arab countries regarding supplying the country with quantities of oil, but these promises, on which Damascus had pinned some hopes, were aborted by the power of US sanctions on Syria, at a time when the government appears to be in dire need of oil.
In light of this, the government had no choice but to reach an understanding with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to purchase quantities of crude oil directed to the Homs refinery.
Ambiguity
Not much is known about the terms of the understanding that are shrouded in "ambiguity", except that the understanding includes the delivery of 15 thousand barrels of oil and one million cubic meters of gas per day, and that its validity period is "three months initially".
"Economy" contacted the Director of Public Relations at the Ministry of Oil, Ahmed Suleiman, to obtain some details of the understanding, and he simply said that "the Syrian government relied on the contract that was in effect during the time of the defunct regime," adding: "But legal amendments were made to it and then it was followed up."
While Suleiman did not disclose the content of the amendments, sources confirmed to "Economy" that Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani was the one who supervised the understanding to reactivate the agreement to purchase oil from the northeastern regions of Syria during the time of the defunct regime.
The sources pointed out that al-Shaibani discussed this matter with the President of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Nechirvan Barzani, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, which was held in Germany in mid-February.
What is the impact of the understanding on the Syrian interior?
After the start of the arrival of quantities of oil, the electricity situation witnessed some improvement, as the hours of electricity connection increased slightly in most Syrian governorates, especially in the capital Damascus.
However, it does not seem that the quantities of oil arriving from the "SDF" areas are capable of having a tangible impact, for reasons most notably Syria's need for large quantities of oil, according to what academic and economic expert, Firas Shaabo, confirmed to "Economy".
Shaabo explained that the new quantities are not sufficient to meet the state's and the local market's need for oil derivatives, explaining that "Syria's current need for oil is about 100 thousand barrels per day, while for gas, the country needs about 8 million cubic meters of it per day, meaning that it is several times the agreed quantities".
Shaabo said: However, the quantities that will arrive from the "SDF" areas may contribute to improving daily services, and may slightly move the wheel of local production.
Sources estimated the current production of Syrian oil fields at no more than 150 thousand barrels per day, due to the halt in production in some of them, and the need for maintenance in other fields, which means that Syria's oil production does not cover the capacity of the Homs and Baniyas refineries.
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