عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Syria Energy Sector Incurs $107Bln in Losses Since Beginning of War

People walk near taxi cars and public transportation buses in Damascus, Syria July 20, 2022. (Reuters)
People walk near taxi cars and public transportation buses in Damascus, Syria July 20, 2022. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Syria Energy Sector Incurs $107Bln in Losses Since Beginning of War

People walk near taxi cars and public transportation buses in Damascus, Syria July 20, 2022. (Reuters)
People walk near taxi cars and public transportation buses in Damascus, Syria July 20, 2022. (Reuters)

Syria’s losses in the oil and gas sectors since the beginning of the war in 2011 until mid-2022 have amounted to about $107 billion dollars, revealed a letter sent by the Foreign Ministry to the UN-Secretary-General and President of the UN Security Council on Monday.

The letter said figures from the Ministry of Oil and Mineral Resources and its accurate statistics show that the direct losses suffered by the key sector amounted to $24.2 billion.

“The estimated value of these losses resulting from extraction, smuggling and illegal trade in Syrian oil, gas and mineral resources amounted to $18.2 billion until the end of H1 2022, while the estimated value of losses resulting from crimes committed by armed factions reached $3.2 billion.”

The letter stressed that the value of losses resulting from the operations carried out by the US-led coalition forces in Syria amounted to $2.8 billion, while the estimated value of indirect losses until mid-2022 amounted to $82.9 billion.

The Foreign Ministry said these figures reflect “the loss in Syria’s production of crude oil, natural gas, domestic gas, various oil derivatives and mineral wealth.”

It held the international coalition forces “the legal, moral and financial responsibility for the direct and indirect losses incurred in the oil and gas sectors, the Syrian mineral wealth, and the environment.”

Separately, two Iranian gas tankers arrived at the Syrian port of Baniyas on the Mediterranean in less than a week, following the opening of a new line of credit between the two countries.

President Bashar al-Assad ratified in July a “new phase” of the credit line agreement.

The deal aims to provide the war-torn country with energy and other supplies needed to make up for its shortfall.

Local sources said both tankers were carrying 2,000 tons of gas and were unloaded at the northwestern port on Saturday and Monday.

Authorities unloaded the tankers and shipped the cargo directly to various regions to alleviate the domestic gas crisis that has worsened in recent months.

Two oil tankers had arrived at the port in mid-August. The first was carrying 31,000 tons of diesel while the other was carrying 5,000 tons.

This brings the total number of gas and oil tankers arriving in Syria from Iran during August to five, added to a tanker carrying one million barrels of crude oil that arrived in July and four tankers carrying 3.3 million barrels in June.

The gas crisis has led to a hike in of prices of basic materials and affected the transport, agriculture and industry sectors.

Assad visited Tehran in May and met with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The visit culminated in the activation of the credit line and Iran’s announcement that it would maintain its support to the Syrian president.

A credit line is a flexible loan from a bank or financial institution, with a defined amount of money that can be accessed as needed and then repaid immediately or over a specified period of time.

The first credit line opened by Iran to Syria was in 2013, with a ceiling amounting to $1 billion dollars with soft interests, followed by another worth $3 billion to finance the country’s needs of oil and its derivatives.

In 2015, a new credit line worth $1 billion was opened, the revenues of which were used by Damascus to finance the import of goods and merchandise and the implementation of projects.

Syria’s internal commerce ministry announced in early August a petrol price hike of 127 percent.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Israeli Military Says Killed Two After West Bank Shooting

Israeli soldiers and emergency personnel gather near ambulances following a shooting attack near Yehuda Junction, near Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026. (AP)
Israeli soldiers and emergency personnel gather near ambulances following a shooting attack near Yehuda Junction, near Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026. (AP)
TT
TT

Israeli Military Says Killed Two After West Bank Shooting

Israeli soldiers and emergency personnel gather near ambulances following a shooting attack near Yehuda Junction, near Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026. (AP)
Israeli soldiers and emergency personnel gather near ambulances following a shooting attack near Yehuda Junction, near Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026. (AP)

Israeli troops on Friday shot dead two suspected Palestinian assailants in the West Bank after a shooting that left at least five people wounded, officials said.

Footage shared by rescuers showed a lifeless body in casual attire on the ground next to a petrol station as Israeli troops patrolled in all directions.

The Israeli military said soldiers had rushed to the Judea Junction area near the flashpoint city of Hebron after the early-morning shooting attack.

"Israeli soldiers eliminated two terrorists and continue searches in the area," it said in a statement.

The initial shooting wounded five people, two of whom were in critical condition, said Magen David Adom, Israel's emergency medical rescue service.

The incident comes as tensions soar in the West Bank, including over attacks by extremist Israeli settlers against Palestinian olive harvesters, and days ahead of Israeli elections.

Arab World

Istanbul Hosts Middle East, European FMs to Discuss Regional Crises

The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Türkiye and Pakistan meet in Amman on August 5. (Turkish Foreign Ministry)
The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Türkiye and Pakistan meet in Amman on August 5. (Turkish Foreign Ministry)
TT
TT

Istanbul Hosts Middle East, European FMs to Discuss Regional Crises

The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Türkiye and Pakistan meet in Amman on August 5. (Turkish Foreign Ministry)
The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Türkiye and Pakistan meet in Amman on August 5. (Turkish Foreign Ministry)

Foreign ministers from seven European and Middle Eastern countries will hold talks in Istanbul Friday focusing on the Strait of Hormuz and the crises in the Middle East.

Ministers from the so-called E3 group -- Britain, France and Germany -- will meet counterparts from the newly created R4 group comprising Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Türkiye and Pakistan to discuss the Palestinians, developments in Yemen and the Strait of Hormuz, and ways to end the Russia-Ukraine war, a Turkish foreign ministry source said.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is hosting the meeting, the first to bring together the two groups.

In chairing the talks, Fidan was to stress that "regional security first and foremost requires countries of the region to assume responsibility" and within that context, Türkiye "prioritizes strengthening cooperation mechanisms based on regional ownership".

He would also say "existing disputes should not be allowed to feed one another, conflicts should not be allowed to spread to new areas, and regional tensions should not be allowed to turn into broader instability".

Fidan will focus on the international community "increasing pressure on Israel" in response to its settlement expansion and its "encouragement of settler terrorism".

He will also underline Türkiye's support for Saudi Arabia's security in the face of Houthi attacks and the need for permanent freedom of navigation in the Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb Straits.

British foreign minister Ed Miliband's office said the talks would essentially revolve around "the Strait of Hormuz and the situation in Saudi Arabia".

"Despite positive progress from the US and regional partners, passage through the Strait remains under threat, with traffic through the waterway sharply down on pre-war levels," a foreign ministry statement said.

It said Miliband "will advocate for a diplomatic solution to the crisis that restores full navigational rights and freedoms" and stress "how Iranian tactics are being replicated across the region, with attacks on Saudi Arabia further destabilizing the region and increasing pressure on vital waterways and global chokepoints, such as Bab El-Mandeb and the Suez Canal."

"The UK is stepping up to help stabilize the region, having this week committed RAF Typhoons to defend Saudi Arabia from Houthi attacks in their airspace," it added.

- Black Sea security -

Unrest in the Black Sea would also be a key focus, with the minister pointing to Türkiye's ongoing "warnings and proposals" to prevent the Russia-Ukraine war from spreading to the Black Sea and to draw a line under the civilian deaths there.

Armed attacks on commercial ships, often with drones, have multiplied in recent months as the war has spilled into the Black Sea, with Turkish ships increasingly in the firing line.

Last month, Türkiye sent a proposal to Russia and Ukraine to end the strikes, but it appears to have fallen on deaf ears with the attacks increasing in recent weeks, notably near Romania and Bulgaria.

NATO said Tuesday it was deploying additional planes, drones and radar systems to the Black Sea, calling for more "situational awareness" in the region through increased sensors and more data-sharing.

The E3 was set up more than 20 years ago to advance diplomatic coordination over Iran's nuclear program.

The R4 was formed this year and brings together Egypt with the signatories to the Makkah Defense Agreement -- a mutual defense pact set up by Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan in August.

Arab World

Iraq Fears Return of ‘Shadow Factions’ to Regional ‘Unity of Fronts’ Campaign

Members of Harakat al-Nujaba movement attend a gathering in Baghdad on Oct. 8, 2023 (AFP)
Members of Harakat al-Nujaba movement attend a gathering in Baghdad on Oct. 8, 2023 (AFP)
TT
TT

Iraq Fears Return of ‘Shadow Factions’ to Regional ‘Unity of Fronts’ Campaign

Members of Harakat al-Nujaba movement attend a gathering in Baghdad on Oct. 8, 2023 (AFP)
Members of Harakat al-Nujaba movement attend a gathering in Baghdad on Oct. 8, 2023 (AFP)

Fears are mounting in Iraq that armed factions’ refusal to surrender their weapons may be an attempt to buy time ahead of a possible resumption of the war with Iran and the revival of the so-called “Axis of Resistance,” as Baghdad faces growing security and political pressure to prevent attacks on regional targets from Iraqi soil.

Political sources close to the Coordination Framework, an alliance of Iraq’s main Shiite political forces, said negotiations to bring all weapons under state control had made no tangible progress, with several factions yet to hand over the rockets and drones in their possession.

However, the sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that some alliance leaders considered it unlikely that the factions would attack countries in the region in support of Iran if the war resumed, given the potential repercussions for Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s government, which could face mounting regional and international pressure.

Nujaba Reaffirms Refusal to Surrender Weapons

Those assessments have failed to ease fears that smaller armed groups could resume attacks that would be difficult to attribute directly to major factions, amid rising regional tensions and continuing divisions in Iraq over weapons outside state control.

Underscoring resistance to any change in the factions’ military status, Abdul Qadir al-Karbalai, military deputy of the Harakat al-Nujaba movement, said Wednesday that the group would not participate in the political process and that its position remained unchanged.

In a statement, al-Karbalai rejected the terms “placing weapons under state control,” “handing over weapons” and “disarmament” in reference to what the group calls resistance weapons.

His remarks pose an additional challenge to the government’s efforts to bring weapons under state control, with concerns extending beyond the political standoff between Baghdad and the factions to the possibility of renewed attacks on regional targets from Iraqi territory.

‘Shadow Factions’

Iraqi newspaper Al-Mada, citing informed sources, reported that the closure of the al-Sheeb border crossing with Iran in Maysan province was not solely related to the technical reasons cited by the government.

The move also came amid security fears of a return by so-called “shadow factions,” small groups of five to 10 members suspected of being used to carry out attacks that would be difficult to trace to those responsible.

Security agencies have stepped up surveillance of suspected attack sites over the past two weeks, the newspaper’s sources said, after attacks targeting Saudi Arabia reportedly shifted from areas in the Najaf desert in July to locations near the al-Sheeb crossing in September.

The developments suggest that armed groups may be changing tactics, avoiding heavily monitored sites and seeking new areas from which to operate.

The assessments and the identities of those behind the reported attacks could not be independently verified.

The Iraqi government has maintained that the crossing’s closure is temporary and intended to improve operational efficiency.

Government spokesman Haider al-Aboudi denied any political motive, describing the closure as “a purely administrative measure that requires no political interpretation.”

Meanwhile, Prime Ministerial adviser Abdul Amir Taiban accused the Iranian side of “serious violations” of Iraqi sovereignty, creating chaos along the shared border and deliberately undermining Iraq’s economy through the smuggling of counterfeit currency and drugs.

Mounting US Pressure

The closure comes as Washington steps up pressure on Baghdad over cross-border trade with Iran.

AFP quoted an Iraqi source Wednesday confirming the closure, while an Iranian official said border crossings with Iraq remained open to travelers, although truck traffic was experiencing delays.

Two political sources said Washington was pressing Baghdad to close additional crossings with Iran. One said the US Treasury Department had raised the issue with al-Zaidi during his visit to New York last month.

Security concerns also extend beyond Iraq’s land borders.

A security source in Basra province said Wednesday that a drone fell into the sea about 200 meters from an oil tanker identified as the Corden Eikel, after its crew alerted Iraqi naval forces to the presence of two drones.

One crashed into the water, while the other disappeared from sight, the source said.

Meanwhile, Baghdad is pursuing diplomatic contacts with regional countries in an effort to contain the escalation.

Iraq’s Foreign Ministry said Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein and his Emirati counterpart, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, discussed by phone ways to create conditions conducive to peaceful understandings that could ease regional tensions and strengthen security and stability.