📰 Oil Unites Damascus and Washington: The Dawn of a Grand Coastal Partnership

In the marbled antechambers of Damascus, where the ghosts of isolation still linger amid frescoes of renewal, a conclave unfolded yesterday that transcended technicalities to etch itself upon the parchment of sovereignty. leader Ahmed al-Sharaa met with figures from the Syrian Petroleum Company (SPC) and the American energy giant Chevron, their discussions centring on Syria’s untapped coastal hydrocarbon reserves. For the first time, official channels have opened towards the black gold and blue gas slumbering beneath the Levantine seabed—a domain long veiled in speculation, from the suspected size of its reserves to the identities of those poised to claim extraction rights. Described as “preliminary”, the meeting marks the first in a likely series of follow-ups, in which legal and geological teams will craft detailed agreements under the observation of US special envoy Tom Barak, Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani, SPC director Yusef Qablawi, Chevron vice leader for development Rank Mount and regional head Joe Kush, alongside the al-Khayyat family—Mu’taz as UCC chairman and Ramz in a supervisory role.

Amid the promise of the Mediterranean coast, this is more than a simple exchange of blueprints; it is the inception of a partnership that could replenish Syria’s coffers and reorient its geopolitical bearings. Indeed, an Unfurled Horizon of Accord Dr Ziyad Arabsh, an energy economics expert at Damascus University, described the summit as a vital step towards reviving Syria’s oil sector after decades of sanctions and crisis. Furthermore, “It marks the resumption of cooperation in a sector starved for over twenty-five years,” he remarked, pointing to the vast potential of the country’s littoral resources.

These synergies, Arabsh explained, rest upon offshore exploration: seismic surveys and subsea drilling to locate and exploit crude oil and gas along Syria’s coastline, possibly identifying emerging basins or enhancing output from known reserves. Beyond extraction, the agreement could cover vital infrastructure to connect emerging finds with export routes, as well as technology transfers to rehabilitate a system severely degraded by war. Syria’s coastal energy infrastructure, reshaped by crisis, requires not mere repairs but comprehensive reinvention.

Beyond the Sanctions’ Shadow In an interview with Al-Madan, Arabsh framed Chevron’s arrival as a financial turning point, especially as the lifting of sanctions opens the floodgates for international tenders. “Agreements with significant US companies like Chevron signal more than oil extraction—they herald a chain reaction,” he predicted, suggesting that this cooperation could extend to green energy ventures and advanced refinery construction, as outlined…