UAE's Dana Gas signs an agreement to explore the revival of Syria gas fields
Dana Gas, based in the UAE, announced on Wednesday that it had signed an initial agreement with Syria's oil company for assessing the redevelopment of natural gas fields damaged by the 13-year-old civil war which made Syria dependent on imports from Iran.
The Syrian rebels overthrew longtime president Bashar al-Assad in late 2018. Since then, the country has pursued a new strategic alignment away from Tehran. This was under President Ahmed al-Sharaa who met with U.S. Donald Trump on Monday.
Natural gas production is estimated to be down to 3 billion cubic meters (bcm), from 8.7 bcm, in 2023.
The report says that the $7 billion plans of a Qatari firm for new power plants are worthless unless Damascus is able to stop armed groups from looting cables faster than its cash-strapped governments can fix them.
Dana Gas of Sharjah, which is listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADSX), signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Syrian Petroleum Company, under which the company will carry out a technical assessment of a number of existing gas fields, including the Abu Rabah Field, one of Syria's biggest discoveries.
Dana Gas has said that if its evaluation is successful, it will present a plan of development to its Syrian counterparts.
Dana Gas, the developer, said that the agreement was signed to support the Syrian Government's goal to significantly increase national gas production in order to fuel electricity generation and to support a recovery of energy.
Richard Hall, CEO of Dana Gas, said that the fields identified in this MoU would make a significant difference to Syria's gas production. They could also help local communities and improve energy security.
He said that the experience of Dana Gas, which was in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, could be directly transferred to similar projects.
The company has assets in Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and exploration. Reporting by Yousef Sabah Editing by Peter Graff
(source: Reuters)