Syria Support Movement solidarity with the Syrian people
from the News Desk at The Cradle, January 22, 2025
Syria’s new administration has issued its first tenders to buy crude and refined products since the fall of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s government in December, as fuel shortages continue to cause electricity blackouts in the country, global market intelligence firm Argus reported on 22 January.
The new government, led by the former Al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), is seeking 3mn bl of light crude for the 140,000 b/d Banias refinery and 1.2mn bl of heavy crude for the 110,100 b/d Homs refinery. The deadline for bidding is 27 January.
The Banias refinery is undergoing maintenance at several of its production units after being taken offline last month because of a lack of crude supplies.
Syria’s new government has also issued its first import tender for refined products — 80,000t of 90 Ron gasoline, 100,000t of 10ppm sulfur gasoil, and 100,000t of fuel oil.
A tender seeking 66,000t of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) has been issued as well, Argus added.
Before HTS captured Damascus, making HTS leader Ahmad al-Sharaa (previously Abu Mohammad al-Julani) the country’s de facto leader, Syria relied heavily on Iran for its oil supplies.
Argus notes that Iran’s crude exports to Syria averaged around 55,000 b/d in January–November 2024 and around 80,000 b/d in 2023, according to trade analytics firm Kpler. Iran was also sending around 10,000-20,000 b/d of oil products to Syria in recent years, according to consultancy FGE.
But Iran halted crude deliveries to Syria once HTS took control of the country last month, putting Damascus under pressure to find new suppliers to alleviate the shortages, which make it difficult to provide electricity to Syrians.
Most Syrian homes receive just a few hours of electricity from the state each day. Syrians rely on generators to fill the gap or go without electricity for the remainder of the time.
Syria began experiencing oil and fuel shortages after it lost its major oil fields, located in the eastern Deir Ezzor governorate, during the US-backed covert war on the Syrian government that began in 2011.
Syria first lost its major oil fields to the Nusra Front (which later became HTS) in 2013. ISIS then took control of the fields in 2014, followed by the US military and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in 2017.
US and EU imposed sanctions made it difficult for Syria to import crude from neighboring countries, leaving Syria reliant on Tehran, which is also under heavy US sanctions.
The US and SDF continue to control the Deir Ezzor fields, which they held as leverage against Assad’s government. US and Kurdish forces steal Syrian oil, smuggling it to Iraq, then Turkiye, and finally to Israel.
Sharaa and HTS have called for the SDF to disband and allow northeast Syria to return to Syrian state control.
“Recent political developments have indicated that Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkiye could play a role in solving Syria’s crude and refined products shortage,” FGE analyst Palash Jain said.
Sources speaking with Argus say that “Saudi Arabia is willing to help for a limited period, but discussions remain in a preliminary phase and are light on details,” and that Riyadh is waiting to hear more from the Syrians on their energy needs and requirements.
The latest tenders come just two weeks after the US waived sanctions that had previously prohibited energy trade with Syria, Argus added. The waiver, issued on 6 January, is valid until 7 July.
