The Syrian Petroleum Company announced on Monday, May 11, that it had received an official notice from global energy company Chevron to proceed with the selected offshore block development project, in cooperation with UCC Holding.
The step paves the way for completing the necessary contractual arrangements, with technical and field operations scheduled to begin in the summer of 2026.
The project establishes the first deepwater offshore exploration operation inside Syrian territorial waters.
The move aims to boost national production rates and modernize the technical infrastructure and operational capacity of the petroleum sector by attracting global technology in the field.
The Syrian Petroleum Company confirmed that the entry of a company the size of Chevron into the project reflects “growing confidence in Syria’s energy sector and the promising potential the country possesses.”
The cooperation also opens new horizons for international investment, supporting the national economy and the development of major strategic projects.
Memorandum of Understanding With Global Consortium
The Syrian Petroleum Company also signed a strategic memorandum of understanding with a consortium that includes major global companies: the US company ConocoPhillips, France’s TotalEnergies, and QatarEnergy.
The company said in a statement on Tuesday, May 12, that the step comes as part of its continued efforts to develop Syria’s petroleum sector and strengthen investment opportunities in offshore exploration.
The memorandum aims to explore oil and gas in Syrian territorial waters. It stipulates that the signing companies will conduct the necessary technical studies, prepare work programs, and draft the exploration contract, paving the way to move into advanced implementation stages in offshore exploration work.
According to the company, these steps come within the framework of the Syrian Petroleum Company’s “orientation toward expanding cooperation with specialized global companies and benefiting from modern expertise and technologies in exploration and production, contributing to supporting the energy sector and enhancing investment and economic development opportunities in Syria.”
On April 10, the CEO of the Syrian Petroleum Company, Youssef Qablawi, announced that the company had received official confirmation from the US company Chevron to move forward with investment and offshore exploration.
Qablawi explained on X that the Syrian Petroleum Company, in cooperation with Chevron and UCC, had successfully identified the targeted offshore site.
According to Qablawi, this paves the way for completing the final contracts and launching technical operations during the summer of 2026.
The step will serve as the cornerstone for the first offshore exploration in Syria’s deep waters, strengthening production, supporting the economy, and bringing the latest technologies to the country, according to Qablawi.
At the time, Enab Baladi sent a set of questions to the Syrian Petroleum Company asking about the expected size of Chevron’s investment at this stage, the project’s impact on the local energy sector, the expected timeframe for tangible results to begin appearing, and the Syrian government’s role in managing and monitoring the investment. However, the company gave no comment or response.
Realizing Actual Returns
Academic Dr. Mahmoud Abdul Karim, a specialist in financial and energy markets, explained in a previous interview with Enab Baladi that the memorandum of understanding signed on February 4 between the Syrian Petroleum Company, Chevron, and Qatar’s Power International does not mean the start of production, but rather marks the starting point for the assessment and seismic survey phase.
He added that offshore seismic surveying alone may cost more than $200,000 per day, while exploratory drilling takes between six and ten months, followed by an assessment of the results over six months to a year. Additional appraisal drilling may then extend for two to three years before a development plan is prepared.
According to Abdul Karim, once commercial feasibility is proven, the phase of installing facilities and development drilling takes an additional year or more, at a total cost that could exceed $1 billion for a deepwater offshore production platform.
Abdul Karim noted that investment in offshore projects goes through five sequential stages, none of which can be skipped:
- Geophysical surveying.
- Exploratory drilling.
- Evaluation and verification of commercial reserves.
- Engineering design and infrastructure construction.
- Development drilling and the start of production.
Each phase carries independent risks. Globally, the average success rate for exploratory wells that reveal commercial reserves does not exceed 20 to 30%, meaning the possibility of obtaining a commercial field worth developing from the first drilling round is not guaranteed.
Academic Mahmoud Abdul Karim reviewed Egypt’s Zohr field, the region’s largest discovery, which was discovered in 2015 and did not reach full production capacity until 2019. Investments exceeded $12 billion, turning Egypt from a gas importer into an exporter, with exports reaching around 173 billion cubic feet of liquefied gas in 2023.
According to Abdul Karim, the Egyptian lesson is extremely important for Syria because the two countries’ starting points are similar: worn-out infrastructure, an energy market dependent on imports, and an urgent need for revenues to fund reconstruction.
In the Syrian case specifically, the academic pointed to additional structural obstacles, namely that Syria has no previous experience in offshore exploration, no existing offshore infrastructure, and no specialized technical cadres in this field.
In addition, the legislative framework for offshore concession contracts has not yet been completed, and international sanctions were lifted only recently, in mid-2025. This means that the institutional and legal system needed to operate such a project is still under construction, according to Abdul Karim.
On this basis, Abdul Karim confirmed that any actual cash flow from Syria’s offshore project will not materialize before 2032 in the best-case scenario, and could extend to 2035 if the surveys face technical or political delays.
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