Syrian Kurds start oil shipments to Damascus, says oil ministry

QAMISHLO,— Kurdish-led authorities in Syrian Kurdistan have resumed oil shipments to Islamist-run government-held areas for the first time in years, an oil ministry official said Saturday.

Deliveries restarted a few days ago under revised agreements between the Kurdish administration and Damascus, oil ministry official Ahmed Suleiman told news agencies. The contracts were adjusted “to align with the interests of the Syrian people,” he said.

The shipments originate from oil fields in Hasaka and Deir el-Zor provinces, according to Suleiman.

He said the terms of previous contracts under President Bashar al-Assad’s government had been “highly unfair” but did not provide further details. The deal includes the transfer of 150,000 barrels of crude oil and one million cubic meters of gas per day, he said.

Speaking later to Syria’s state-run SANA news agency, he added that the agreement is initially set for three months.

A source within the semi-autonomous administration in the Kurdish northeastern Syria told Reuters that the arrangement involves sending 5,000 barrels per day from the Rmeilan oil field in Hasaka, as well as other sites in Deir el-Zor, to a refinery in Homs.

Before the Syrian conflict began in 2011, the country exported about 380,000 barrels of oil per day. However, years of war have devastated Syria’s economy and infrastructure, including its energy sector.

Kurdish-led authorities control much of the country’s oil-rich northeast, where they have established de facto autonomy since the early 2010s. The region’s oil trade has been a key point of contention between Damascus and Kurdish officials.

Syria’s new Islamist rulers, which has close ties to Ankara, has called on all armed groups, including the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), to surrender their weapons. It has also rejected any form of Kurdish self-rule.

Turkish-backed Islamist mercenary groups have launched ongoing attacks on SDF positions in Kurdish-held areas since November, with no sign of a ceasefire.

The SDF, backed by the United States, led the military campaign that drove the Islamic State group from its last stronghold in Syria in 2019. Sources say the SDF may need to relinquish control of oil revenues as part of any future settlement with Damascus.

SDF commander Mazloum Abdi said last month that his forces are open to handing over oil resources to the new administration, provided revenues are distributed fairly across all Syrian provinces.

Turkey considers the SDF’s main faction, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), to be linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state for decades.

Analysts have dismissed this claim, arguing that Turkey’s main concern is preventing Kurdish autonomy in northern Syria, also known as Rojava.

(With files from AFP | Reuters)