French oil major TotalEnergies, QatarEnergy and ConocoPhillips have signed a deal with the Syrian Petroleum Company to launch a technical review of the offshore Block 3 area near the Syrian city of Latakia, TotalEnergies said on Tuesday.
The memorandum of understanding “covers a technical review by the partners of the offshore area and establishes a framework for technical and commercial discussions related to exploration activities on this block,” the company said in a statement.
In 2011, Total of France stopped oil production in Syria in compliance with the EU sanctions imposed on the government of former president Bashar Assad.
“We are pleased to enter into this new partnership with the Syrian Petroleum Company with which we had a long and fruitful relationship from 1988 to 2011, and we look forward to cooperating with QatarEnergy and ConocoPhillips to assess Syrian offshore exploration opportunities in the Mediterranean Sea,”, said Julien Pouget, Senior Vice President Middle East and North Africa Exploration & Production at TotalEnergies.
On Monday, the Syrian Petroleum Company said it has identified an offshore site for its first deep-water oil and gas exploration project with US major Chevron and Qatar’s UCC Holding,
The move is part of a broader push by Syria’s new government to attract foreign investment into the country’s battered energy sector after years of civil war and sanctions.
State-owned SPC said that the company, together with Chevron and UCC Holding, had completed identification of the offshore block, paving the way to finalize contracts and start technical operations this summer, according to Reuters.
Chevron signed a preliminary agreement in February with SPC and UCC Holding to evaluate offshore oil and gas exploration in Syrian waters, the US company’s entry into Syria’s eastern Mediterranean offshore sector.