Russian Forces Take Over Two Oil, Gas Fields in Northeast Syria

An oil field in Syria (Archive photo)
An oil field in Syria (Archive photo)
TT
20

Russian Forces Take Over Two Oil, Gas Fields in Northeast Syria

An oil field in Syria (Archive photo)
An oil field in Syria (Archive photo)

Russian forces on Saturday took control over the al-Thawra oil facility, located in southwest Raqqa governorate in northeastern Syria, after the Iran-aligned Liwa Fatemiyoun militia having withdrawn from the site.

This follows Russian forces imposing their control of the Toueinane gas field in Raqqa’s countryside on Friday.

Russian military reinforcements alongside units from the Russian-backed Fifth Armored Division arrived on Saturday at al-Thawra oil facility which produces around 2,000 bpd, media sources based in Syria’s Euphrates region reported.

The oil facility used to produce around 6,000 bpd before 2010.

As for the Touneinane gas field, which was controlled by Iranian proxies and operated by HESCO, it produces about 3 million cubic meters of natural gas per day, 60 tons of domestic gas, and two thousand barrels of gas condensate.

Nine Russian military vehicles and four troop carriers transporting members of the Fifth Armored Division rolled into al-Thawra oil facility after Iran-aligned Fatemiyoun militia withdrew from the site as part of understandings reached with Russian forces, reported Eye of Euphrates, a local Syrian opposition media outlet.

Similarly, Eye of Euphrates correspondents reported on seven Russian military vehicles and three troop carriers transporting members of the Fifth Armored Division arriving at the Touneinane gas field on Friday.

It was not clear if Fatemiyoun militants had given up their presence at the gas field also as part of agreements with Russian forces around dividing control over strategic spots in northeast Syria.

Governorates like Deir Ezzor and Hasakah, which are situated near the war-torn country’s borders with Iraq and Turkey, include some of the most vital oil and gas fields in Syria.

It is worth noting that US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) control most of those fields. Hasakah’s Rmeilan oil field, which includes over 1,322 oil wells and 25 natural gas wells, is run by the SDF.



French, Algerian Ties ‘Back to Normal’, France Says after Talks

This handout photograph released by French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE) shows France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (L) being received by Algeria's President Abdelmajid Tebboune in Algiers on April 6, 2025. (French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs / AFP)
This handout photograph released by French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE) shows France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (L) being received by Algeria's President Abdelmajid Tebboune in Algiers on April 6, 2025. (French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs / AFP)
TT
20

French, Algerian Ties ‘Back to Normal’, France Says after Talks

This handout photograph released by French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE) shows France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (L) being received by Algeria's President Abdelmajid Tebboune in Algiers on April 6, 2025. (French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs / AFP)
This handout photograph released by French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE) shows France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (L) being received by Algeria's President Abdelmajid Tebboune in Algiers on April 6, 2025. (French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs / AFP)

France's foreign minister said on Sunday that ties with Algeria were back to normal after he held 2 1/2 hours of talks with Algeria's president following months of bickering that have hurt Paris' economic and security interests in its former colony.

Ties between Paris and Algiers have been complicated for decades, but took a turn for the worse last July when Macron angered Algeria by recognizing a plan for autonomy for the Western Sahara region under Moroccan sovereignty.

A poor relationship has major security, economic and social repercussions: trade is extensive and some 10% of France's 68 million population has links to Algeria, according to French officials.

"We are reactivating as of today all the mechanisms of cooperation in all sectors. We are going back to normal and to repeat the words of President (Abdelmadjid) Tebboune: 'the curtain is lifted'," Jean-Noel Barrot said in a statement at the presidential palace in Algiers after 2 1/2 hours of talks.

His visit comes after a call between President Emmanuel Macron and his counterpart Tebboune on March 31, during which the two agreed to a broad roadmap to calm tensions.

French officials say Algiers had put obstacles to administrative authorizations and new financing for French firms operating in the country.

Nowhere was that felt more than in wheat imports. Traders say the diplomatic rift led Algerian grains agency OAIC to tacitly exclude French wheat and firms in its import tenders since October. OAIC has said it treats all suppliers fairly, applying technical requirements.

Barrot said he had specifically brought up the difficulties regarding economic exchanges, notably in the agrobusiness, automobile and maritime transport sectors.

"President Tebboune reassured me of his will to give them new impetus," Barrot said.

Beyond business, the relationship has also soured to the point where security cooperation stopped. The detention by Algiers in November of 80-year-old Franco-Algerian author Boualem Sansal also worsened the relationship.

He has since been sentenced to five years in prison. Barrot said he hoped a gesture of "humanity" could be made by Algiers given his age and health.

With Macron's government under pressure to toughen immigration policies, the spat has fed into domestic politics in both countries.

Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau has called for a 1968 pact between the two countries that makes it easier for Algerians to settle in France to be reviewed, after Algiers refused to take back some of its citizens who were ordered to leave France under the "OQTF" (obligation to leave French territory) deportation regime.

Barrot said Retailleau would soon go to Algiers and that the two sides would resume cooperation on judicial issues.

The relationship between the two countries is scarred by the trauma of the 1954-1962 war in which the North African country, which had a large settler population and was treated as an integral part of France under colonial rule, won independence.