The director of the media department at the Syrian Petroleum Company, Mohammed Nour Al-Ahdab, revealed that Syria's share under the executive contract signed last Tuesday with the American companies "ConocoPhillips" and "Novatora Energy" is 56% in favor of Damascus, compared to 44% for the two investment companies.

Al-Ahdab promised in statements to Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that this percentage is a great positive gain in favor of the Syrian state, pointing out that contracts for the development of natural gas globally are usually close to full parity (50% for each party) due to the size of the invested capital and the enormity of the technical and operational risks associated with rehabilitation and production works.

Al-Ahdab explained that the utmost importance of this contract lies in the fact that it was designed with utmost precision in a way that preserves the supreme national interest of the country and ensures the achievement of a clear and direct technical and economic return for the Syrian interior.

Mohammed Nour Al-Ahdab stressed that the contract aims to increase the rates of local production of natural gas to support the entire energy system, especially to secure the vital supplies needed for the electricity sector and other service sectors, in order to ensure a gradual reduction in foreign imports, and to transfer the latest international expertise and technologies to Syrian engineering cadres through intensive training and empowerment programs.

Future Vision and Implementation Phases

The media officer at the Syrian Petroleum Company indicated that this agreement moves strategic cooperation with international partners from the theoretical phase and fragile memoranda of understanding to the stage of the official contract and actual field implementation in the fields.

Al-Ahdab pointed out that the contract includes executive stages and strict timetables, first related to the development of the existing fields, the rehabilitation of their damaged operational infrastructure, and the gradual increase in the pace of gas production, with the existence of later legally agreed paths related to additional development and exploration works in the future.

He said that this project represents an integral part of a broader government vision to rebuild the national energy sector on a sustainable technical and economic basis that serves the economy and citizens in the medium and long term. The spokesman contingent the total contract period on the nature of the technical works and the stages of production on the ground, promising that the Syrian Petroleum Company and the Ministry of Energy will officially announce all the technical contractual details that can be published to the public through the approved channels immediately after the start of the field.

Signing the Contract

Last Tuesday , June 16, at the ministry's building in Damascus, the Syrian Petroleum Company (SPC) signed an official contract with the American companies "ConocoPhillips" and "Novatora" to develop a number of gas fields in Syria and increase production from existing fields, which directly contributes to supporting the local energy system and enhancing the supply of vital gas needed for the electricity sector and other development sectors.

The signing of the contract was followed by a series of intensive technical, legal, and commercial meetings and discussions that focused on the preparation of the necessary studies and the formulation of executive frameworks, leading to the final agreement on the terms of the current contract and the mechanisms for its implementation on the ground.

Under the agreement, gas production from the targeted fields will be increased, its operational structure will be developed according to the latest technical standards, in addition to attracting international expertise and investments to rehabilitate the infrastructure of the Syrian energy sector.