Syria Begins Building Joint Syrian-Russian Oil Geology Data Center

Oil well in al Qahtaniyah, Syria (AFP)
Oil well in al Qahtaniyah, Syria (AFP)
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Syria Begins Building Joint Syrian-Russian Oil Geology Data Center

Oil well in al Qahtaniyah, Syria (AFP)
Oil well in al Qahtaniyah, Syria (AFP)

Syrian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Ghanem announced on Thursday that Syria is looking forward to constructing a data center for oil geology in Damascus with Moscow’s help, as part of a roadmap signed lately between the two countries.

In an interview with the Sputnik agency, Ghanem said his country would be contributing technical equipment to the project.

"This center will be located in Damascus. We have a timetable for [the project's] implementation and have already begun the construction. As for the special technologies for the center, they will be provided by the Russian side,” the Syrian Minister explained.

Ghanem said the center’s staff would include specialists from both Syria and Russia.

The center is part of the cooperation roadmap that the Syrian government signed with the Russian Energy Ministry during the joint Russian-Syrian intergovernmental commission meeting held on December 23-24 in Moscow.

"I believe the cooperation with the Gubkin University [Russian National University of Oil and Gas] will be fruitful. The center will become the key information hub for the entire oil geology sector," Ghanem said.

Meanwhile, top adviser to Syrian President Bashar Assad Bouthaina Shaaban said the US has 'absolutely no right' to Syria’s oil and warned of 'operations' against American troops.

She said her country is considering suing the US in an international court over the “theft of Syria’s oil.”

The German news agency quoted Shaaban as saying that Syria has begun an oil and gas exploration project in the Mediterranean with Russian companies.   

Last October, US President Donald Trump withdrew the majority of the US Armed Forces from Syria before the Pentagon announced that 600 soldiers were staying put to guard the country's oil fields.

Commenting on the situation in Idlib, Shaaban said the military operation there has begun and that Russian warplanes were supporting the Syrian Army.



Influential Far-right Minister Lashes out at Netanyahu over Gaza War Policy

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, also attended by Argentine President Javier Milei (not pictured), in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, also attended by Argentine President Javier Milei (not pictured), in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025
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Influential Far-right Minister Lashes out at Netanyahu over Gaza War Policy

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, also attended by Argentine President Javier Milei (not pictured), in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, also attended by Argentine President Javier Milei (not pictured), in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025

Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich sharply criticized on Sunday a cabinet decision to allow some aid into Gaza as a "grave mistake" that he said would benefit the militant Palestinian group Hamas.

Smotrich also accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of failing to ensure that Israel's military is following government directives in prosecuting the war against Hamas in Gaza. He said he was considering his "next steps" but stopped short of explicitly threatening to quit the coalition, Reuters reported.

Smotrich's comments come a day before Netanyahu is due to hold talks in Washington with President Donald Trump on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day Gaza ceasefire.

"... the cabinet and the Prime Minister made a grave mistake yesterday in approving the entry of aid through a route that also benefits Hamas," Smotrich said on X, arguing that the aid would ultimately reach the Islamist group and serve as "logistical support for the enemy during wartime".

The Israeli government has not announced any changes to its aid policy in Gaza. Israeli media reported that the government had voted to allow additional aid to enter northern Gaza.

The prime minister's office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The military declined to comment.

Israel accuses Hamas of stealing aid for its own fighters or to sell to finance its operations, an accusation Hamas denies. Gaza is in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe, with conditions threatening to push nearly a half a million people into famine within months, according to UN estimates.

Israel in May partially lifted a nearly three-month blockade on aid. Two Israeli officials said on June 27 the government had temporarily stopped aid from entering north Gaza.

PRESSURE

Public pressure in Israel is mounting on Netanyahu to secure a permanent ceasefire, a move opposed by some hardline members of his right-wing coalition. An Israeli team left for Qatar on Sunday for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal.

Smotrich, who in January threatened to withdraw his Religious Zionism party from the government if Israel agreed to a complete end to the war before having achieved its objectives, did not mention the ceasefire in his criticism of Netanyahu.

The right-wing coalition holds a slim parliamentary majority, although some opposition lawmakers have offered to support the government from collapsing if a ceasefire is agreed.