The Syrian Petroleum Company is currently facing a critical and pivotal phase, characterized by increasing administrative turmoil and a sharp decline in field monitoring and technical expertise. Despite the company's essential position as a pillar of the national economy, signs of internal weakness have become clear and worrying on several levels.
First: Rapid Administrative Changes: Chaos Hinders Stability
In recent years, the company has witnessed a series of successive changes in its senior management. These changes, usually justified by the slogan of "reform and renewal," have failed to create an environment of administrative or technical stability. Each new administration begins with a different vision, resulting in overlapping powers, fragmented priorities, and a disruption in the continuity of strategic plans. The direct result has been the halt or slowdown of many vital projects, and the uncertainty surrounding the company's overall direction for field workers.
Second: Exclusion of Expertise and Erosion of the Technical Foundation
The company is suffering from a significant loss of the highly qualified expertise that has formed its technical backbone for decades. A large number of highly qualified engineers and technicians with long track records have been removed from critical decision-making positions, replaced by individuals who may lack the technical background and depth of knowledge necessary to manage such sensitive issues. This change in the human structure has had a direct and negative impact on the quality of technical decisions and the efficiency of field implementation, as accurate scientific insights have been lost in addressing complex operational problems.
Third: Weak Field Monitoring and Threats to Production (Especially in the Central Region)
The fields in the Central Region represent strategic production sites for the country, but they are currently experiencing a clear deterioration in the level of supervision and monitoring. Necessary field visits have been reduced, and technical reports are no longer regularly reviewed and audited. This laxity creates ample scope for the growth of operational errors and the exacerbation of unjustified waste. Field work in this vital sector requires direct and continuous supervision, which cannot be compensated for by office monitoring alone.
Fourth: Replacing Competence with Loyalty: The Experience Gap Is Widening
One of the most serious current problems is the recruitment of new cadres into influential positions without sufficient practical experience or the required specialized academic qualifications. Although this approach may appear to be an infusion of fresh blood, in many cases it has occurred at the expense of those with established experience and deep knowledge in the oil sector. This has created a clear gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application, weakening the quality of performance in vital production areas.
Fifth: Freezing Exploration and Drilling Operations: Mortgaging the Sector's Future
No oil sector can continue to rely solely on the production of old fields. The recent halt in repair, exploration, and drilling operations is a dangerous indicator and reduces hope of discovering new reservoirs capable of compensating for the natural and temporal decline in production from existing fields. The absence of serious exploration plans directly threatens the company's long-term production future, leaving it hostage to the remaining capacity of old fields.
What's Next?
The Syrian Petroleum Company today needs a calm and responsible strategic review that restores the necessary balance between wise administrative decision-making and deep technical expertise, and restores confidence in the national competencies that built this sector. Traditional Products
True reform does not begin with a simple change of face. Rather, it requires building a sustainable and stable institutional vision that restores the company's position as a fundamental pillar of the national economy. The rights of the Syrian state and citizens must also be preserved through:
- Optimal management of fields: by launching transparent, time-bound international tenders, subject to strict controls, and involving major, reputable, and competent international companies.
- Avoiding non-competitive approaches: avoid dubious memoranda of understanding or offers that lack transparency, which fail to achieve the required competitiveness, fairness, and equality among bidders.
It is worth noting that the company's stockpiles are full of equipment and materials capable of increasing production by millions of dollars per month, without the need for exclusive reliance on immediate foreign investment, provided there is the administrative will and sound technical decision to utilize them.
Zaman Al Wasl
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