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Last Updated: June 2010 |
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| Syria- |
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| Syria
produces relatively modest quantities of oil and gas but the country’s
location is strategic in terms of energy transit. |
Syria
is the only significant crude oil producing country in the Eastern
Mediterranean region, which includes
Jordan, Lebanon,
Israel, the West Bank, and
Gaza. In 2009,
Syria
produced about 400,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) of crude and other
petroleum liquids. Oil production has stabilized after falling for a
number of years, and is poised to turn around as new fields come on
line. In 2008,
Syria produced 213 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural
gas, and is expected to double its gas production by the end of
2010. While much of its oil is exported to Europe, Syria's natural
gas is used in reinjection for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and for
domestic electricity generation.
Although
Syria produces relatively modest
quantities of oil and gas, its location is strategic in terms of
regional security and prospective energy transit routes. Regional
integration in the energy sector is expected to increase as a result
of the 2008 opening of the Syrian link of the Arab Gas Pipeline and
ongoing plans for the expansion of the pipeline network to include
neighboring countries Turkey,
Iraq, and
Iran.
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| Syrian
crude oil production has been in decline since the mid-1990s, but
efforts are underway to turn it around in 2010. |
According to
The Oil and Gas Journal,
Syria
had 2.5 billion barrels of petroleum reserves as of January 1, 2010.
Syria's known oil reserves are
mainly in the eastern part of the country near its border with
Iraq and along the
Euphrates River; a number of smaller
fields are located in the center of the country.
Organization
Syria’s upstream oil
production and development has traditionally been the mandate of the
Syrian Petroleum Company (SPC), an arm of the Ministry of Petroleum
and Mineral Resources. The SPC has undertaken efforts to reverse the
trend toward declining oil production and exports by increasing oil
exploration and production in partnership with foreign oil
companies. The SPC directly controls about half of the country's oil
production and takes a 50 percent stake in development work with
foreign partners.
Foreign investment is vital for
improving production levels. The main foreign producing consortium
is the Al-Furat Petroleum Company, a joint venture established in
1985, which currently includes the SPC at 50 percent ownership,
Shell Oil at 32 percent, and others, including
China's
CNPC. Asian national oil companies and smaller independents have
been the most active in recent exploration tenders, including
Gulfsands, led by Sinochem.
Production
Since peaking at 583,000 barrels per
day (bbl/d) in 1996, Syrian crude oil production declined to an
estimated 368,000 bbl/d in 2009, down from 390,000 bbl/d in 2008.
Total oil liquids production, which includes crude and natural gas
liquids (NGL), is estimated at about 400,000 bbl/d in 2009. Syrian
oil minister Suffian Alao announced in April 2010 that the
government expects oil production to increase in 2010 following 13
years of steady decline.
Syria consumed 252,000
bbl/d of petroleum liquids in 2009.
The largest and most mature fields are
Al-Furat's Omar and SPC's Jbessa fields, which reportedly had
production capacity of 100,000 and 200,000 barrels per day,
respectively, at the start of 2010. Other smaller mature fields,
such as Oudeh, Gbeibe, and Tishrine, are under field rehabilitation
contracts to CNPC and Sinopec, and their production capacity is on
the rise. Contracts have been awarded to Shell and Total in 2008 and
2010 for exploration at greater depths in existing mature fields in
the Euphrates and central areas.
Gulfsands' Khurbet East field came onstream in 2008 with initial
production of 10,000 bbl/d rising to 18,000 by the end of 2009.
Khurbet East capacity is currently expected to increase due to
recent drilling successes along with development work. Gulfsands is
also involved in developing the nearby Yousefieh field, which is
currently producing about 1,200 bbl/d and is expected to produce
6,000 bbl/d by 2012. All of these activities have reportedly added
more than 50,000 bbl/d of production over the past 2 years, and a
further 15,000-20,000 bbl/d is set to come on stream in 2010 from
fields discovered by India's
ONGC and Russia's
Tatneft.
Attempts to explore the offshore
Mediterranean were unsuccessful in 2007,
as no offers were confirmed for the four blocks tendered, reportedly
because terms were deemed unfavorable and the blocks too small.
However, in April 2010, it was announced that eight new blocks,
located onshore mainly in the north and east of the country, are
open for bidding before a September 15 deadline. And the SPC plans
to reissue tenders for the offshore blocks in the near future.
Exports
In 2009,
Syria’s net petroleum
exports were estimated to be 148,000 bbl/d. All oil exports are
marketed by Sytrol,
Syria’s state oil marketing firm, which sells most of
its volumes under 12-month contracts. Syrian crude oil exports go
mostly to OECD European countries, in particular
Germany,
Italy, and
France, totaling an
estimated 143,000 bbl/d in 2009, according to International Energy
Agency (IEA) data.
Pipelines
Syria has a developed
domestic pipeline system for transporting crude and petroleum
products managed by the Syrian Company for Oil Transportation
(SCOT). Pipelines include the 250,000-bbl/d, 347-mileTel
Adas-Tartous crude line linking SPC and other fields to the port at
Tartous with a connection to the refinery at Homs, and oil products
pipelines linking the Homs refinery to
Syria's major cities.
Syria has three
Mediterranean oil export/import terminals, all managed by SCOT.
Baniyas (7 berths) and Tartous (2 berths) are larger ports; Latakia
handles smaller cargoes. The terminals are connected to refineries
through the domestic pipeline network.
In 2009, it was reported that an
initial agreement took place between
Syria and Iraq to repair
and reopen the Kirkuk-Banias oil pipeline, which extends 500 miles
from oil fields in northern Iraq
to the Syrian port of Banias on the
Mediterranean. This pipeline, which could be used to export
production from
Iraq’s northern fields, has been closed since 2003.
However, to date no contract has been awarded.
Refining
According to
The Oil and Gas Journal,
Syria's
total refining capacity was approximately 240,000 bbl/d as of
January 2010. Syria's two
state-owned refineries are located at Baniyas and
Homs, which have 133,000 bbl/d and
107,000 bbl/d, respectively, of refining capacity.
Syria
faces shortages of gas oil and diesel, which are imported. A
proposed new 100,000 bbl/d capacity refinery project by CNPC at Abu
Khashab is currently under contract following the completion of an
economic feasibility study in early 2010.
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| Syria
will almost double its natural gas production in 2010 , all of it slated
for domestic use . |
According to
The Oil and Gas Journal, as
of January 1, 2010,
Syria's proven natural
gas reserves were estimated at 8.5 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), about
half of which is associated gas. Non-associated gas reserves are
mainly located in the east and center of the country. Roughly 35
percent of Syrian natural gas production was reinjected into
oilfields in 2008, about 2 percent was vented or flared, and the
rest distributed to power generators and other domestic users.
Syria plans to substitute
natural gas for oil in all of its domestic power generation and
industrialuse by 2014. Over half of
Syria's
power generating facilities are still fueled by refined oil
products, much of which must be imported due to inadequate refining
capacity.
Production
In 2008,
Syria produced an estimated 208 billion cubic feet per year (Bcf/y)
of natural gas, imported 5 Bcf, and consumed 213 Bcf.
Syria's
natural gas production was declining from 2004 to 2008, but it is
now poised to increase rapidly as a series of new projects come on
stream. By the end of 2010,
Syria reportedlyexpects to double
its 2008 production level. According to Syrian Minister of Petroleum
and Mineral Resources SufianAllao, reported by the Syrian Arab News
Agency on April 14, 2010, Syrian natural gas production had reached
361 Bcf/y at that time and was expected to reach 412 Bcf/y by the
end of 2010.
In November 2009, the South Central
Area gas plant came online. Built by
Russia's Stroytransgaz, the project produces about 88 Bcf per
year of treated gas, thereby increasing
Syria's total natural gas
production by about 40 percent. Also in November 2009, an early
production facility in Al Hayan gas field came onstream with the
capacity to produce 7.8 Bcf per year. The main treatment plant at Al
Hayan is being built by Petrofac, and is scheduled to start up in
late 2010 with a capacity of about 50 Bcf per year. Suncor Energy
(Petro-Canada) started up its Ebla gas plant in April 2010,
producing about 29 Bcf per year from the Ebla
gas fields. As natural gas production rises, gas demand for electric
power generation grows and power plants switch from fuel oil to gas.
Natural Gas
Imports and Pipelines
Syria
is a natural gas importer since mid-2008, when it began importing an
estimated 5 Bcf/y of natural gas from
Egypt by way of the Arab
Gas Pipeline (AGP). Syria's
long-term aim is to become a transit state for Egyptian, Iraqi,
Iranian, and even potentially Azerbaijani gas, which would gain it
valuable transit revenues as well as help increase the availability
of natural gas imports to
Syria. According to a 2009
agreement with Turkey,
Syria will import up to 35 Bcf
of gas from Turkey
starting in 2011 with the opening of the Syria-Turkey section of the
Arab Gas Pipeline.
Arab Gas Pipeline
The AGP currently links
Egypt with
Jordan,
Syria, and
Lebanon. Limited gas
supplies to Lebanon from
Egypt
began at the end of 2009. Completion of the pipeline to
Turkey
is projected for 2011. A memorandum of understanding with
Turkey was signed in 2009, under
which Turkey will build a
56-mile pipeline on its side of the border to link into the line
Syria is currently building from
Aleppo to Kilis on the border. The
Aleppo-Kilis line is to be completed by March 2011. According to the
agreement, Syria
will receive between 17.5 and 35 Bcf of Turkish gas annually for 5
years starting in 2011.
Syria-Iraq Gas Pipeline
Discussions are reportedly under way
between Syria and Iraq to construct a new natural gas pipeline from
the Akkas gas field in Iraq’s western province of Al-Anbar, about 30
miles from the Syrian border. The main sticking points are terms for
exports and Iraq's
own domestic need for gas. Akkas has the potential to contribute to
the supply of gas to Europe through tying into the Arab gas pipeline
that will run to the Turkish border via Syria.
Persian Pipeline
Syria
and Iran reportedly signed a
cooperation agreement in April 2009 which includes plans for a
natural gas pipeline between Iran
and Syria via
Iraq.
The main sticking point is the security of the line through
Iraq.
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| Proven
Oil Reserves (January 1, 2010E) |
2.5
billion barrels |
| Total
Oil Production (2009E) |
400
thousand barrels per day |
| Crude
Oil Production (2009E) |
368
thousand barrels per day |
| Oil
Consumption (2009E) |
252
thousand barrels per day |
| Net
Petroleum Exports (2009E) |
192
thousand barrels per day |
| Crude
Oil Distillation Capacity (2010E) |
240
thousand barrels per day |
| Proven
Natural Gas Reserves (January 1, 2010E) |
8.5
trillion cubic feet |
| Natural
Gas Production (2008E) |
208
billion cubic feet |
| Natural
Gas Consumption (2008E) |
213
billion cubic feet |
| Natural
Gas Imports (2008E) |
5
billion cubic feet |
| Total
Energy Consumption (2007E) |
0.8
quadrillion Btu*, of which Oil (69%), Natural Gas (27%),
Hydroelectricity (4%) |
| Total
Per Capita Energy Consumption (2007E) |
38.8
million Btu |
| Energy
Intensity (2007E) |
9,388
Btu per $2000-PPP** |
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Organization |
Upstream and downstream oil and gas sectors controlled by the
state-owned Syrian Petroleum Company (SPC) and the Syrian Gas
Company (SGC), both part of the Ministry of Petroleum and
Mineral Resources. Since 2001, Syria has re-opened upstream oil
and gas exploration to international oil companies through
production sharing agreements. Investments in downstream
infrastructure are also increasingly open to foreign investment.
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| Major
Oil/Gas Ports |
Baniyas, Tartous and Latakia |
| Foreign
Company Involvement |
Shell
Oil, Total, Stroytransgaz, Gulfsands, Soyuzneftegaz, ONGC, CNPC,
Petro-Canada, Petrofac, Sinochem, Sinopec, Tatneft. |
| Major
Oil and Natural Gas Basins |
Palmyra, Suweidiya, Deir Ez-Zour, Jbessa |
| Major
Pipelines (capacity) |
Arab
Gas Pipeline (970 MMcf/d when completed to Turkey) |
| Major
Refineries (capacity, bbl/d)(2010E) |
Baniyas (132,725), Homs (107,140) |
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* The total energy consumption
statistic includes petroleum, dry natural gas, coal, net hydro,
nuclear, geothermal, solar, wind, wood and waste electric power.
**GDP figures from Global Insight estimates based on purchasing
power parity (PPP) exchange rates. |
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Agence
France Presse
Al- Furat Petroleum Co.
APS Review Oil and Gas Mar ket Trends
BBC World wide Monitoring
Business Middle East
Daily News Egypt
Energy Intelligence Group
Global Insight
Government of Syria , Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources
Syrian Petroleum Company
Gulfsands Petroleum Co.
International Energy Agency
Middle East Economic Survey (MEE S )
Oxford Business Group
Syrian Arab News Agency ( SANA )
Syrian News Digest
Syrian Petroleum Company (SPC)
TendersInfo
UPI Energy
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