I hope the dads in our industry enjoyed a special “Father’s Day” this past weekend. I certainly did with our youngest daughter. She came back home on behalf of her sisters. We went to the Houston Stadium together and cheered for our beloved Netherlands soccer team. It was a bittersweet 5:1 win against Sweden, the motherland of my second son-in-law.
This week, we will look at ConocoPhillips’ reentry into Syria. You can also read a special report I published on Chevron’s collaboration with Microsoft to construct a data center in West Texas. You must be an AAPG member to read. Not a member yet? Become one here.
Chevron Teams Up With Microsoft to Develop Texas Data Center Leveraging gas resources and teaming up with tech companies for power represents a brand-new area of competition for the majors.
Shangyou Nie
Editor, Well Read
Sponsored
Data Driven Oil & Gas USA
Reuters Events unites 350+ leading upstream innovators and digital experts to explore data-driven strategies that maximize production and foster innovation.
ConocoPhillips Became the First American Company to Re-enter Syria
Jarretera/Shutterstock.com
ConocoPhillips (COP), America’s third-largest international oil company, signed an agreement with state-run Syrian Petroleum Company to develop onshore gas fields. This is the first American IOC to sign a firm deal for E&P activities in Syria.
The development follows recent reports that Chevron, TotalEnergies, Qatar Energy, and COP signed non-binding MoUs with the Syrian state company for offshore exploration acreage, as Syria ushers in a new era for its oil and gas industry.
Deal details:
Together with NovaTerra Energy—a local company focused on Syrian domestic gas—COP will lead the development of a number of onshore gas fields, in addition to exploring for new reserves in Syria.
NovaTerra has gas fields in three onshore development areas in Syria: North Damascus, Bilaas, and Tabyyah.
Syria hopes the agreement with COP will help increase gas production from 8.2 million cubic feet per day to 12–13 million cubic feet per day within a year.
According to COP’s 2025 annual report, in addition to the United States, it has E&P operations in eight other countries: Norway, Canada, Australia, Malaysia, Libya, China, Qatar, and Equatorial Guinea.
Deal background:
In February, Youssef Qablawi, CEO of Syrian Petroleum Company, said during an energy conference in London that Syria is open for upstream investment.
In recent months, the Syrian government has signed several MoUs with IOCs for offshore exploration:
In February, Chevron, with partner QatarEnergy, signed an MoU with SPC “to jointly evaluate exploration opportunities offshore Syria.”
In May, TotalEnergies and its partners QatarEnergy and COP signed an agreement with SPC in Doha for Block 3. The MoU will include a review to establish the technical and commercial framework for further exploration activities within the block.
Impact of the war:
According to the press, Syria’s gas production suffered significantly during the war from 2011 to 2023. Some of the blocks covered under MoUs had been under force majeure since December 2011 due to security concerns.
Gas production dropped by some 65 percent from 24 million cubic feet per day in 2011 to 8.2 million cubic feet per day in 2023.
Before the war, Syria had a number of international companies operating in the country, including Shell, Total, and CNPC.
Before the Arab Spring of 2011, Syria was producing 400,000 barrels of oil per day. In 2015, it was producing less than 25,000 barrels per day, according to the EIA.
The bigger picture: COP’s re-entry into Syria’s E&P sector is significant in at least four ways.
As European IOCs refocus on their oil and gas core businesses and American IOCs seek overseas growth, Syria is becoming the latest battleground for acreage capture.
Syria sits in a strategic location; it is along the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea, linking the oil- and gas-rich countries, such as Iraq, with Europe. This has become critically important as the recent Iran War showed the Strait of Hormuz is a potential choke point for oil and gas shipping.
There has been no exploration drilling in offshore Syria. It could prove to be an exciting exploration frontier if oil and gas breakthrough discoveries can be made there.
Unlike MoUs to evaluate exploration potential remotely, developing gas fields will require actual “boots on the ground” for COP, representing a physical country re-entry.
What they’re saying:
“We were in the country a number of decades ago, and this represents the re-entry of our company back into Syria in partnership with NovaTerra. We hope to grow the gas production in the country,” said Ryan Lance, CEO of ConocoPhillips.
“I hope that that expands beyond that to something even more significant for our company and more significant for the country of Syria,” added Lance.
What to watch:
Will other previous operators (e.g., TotalEnergies, Shell, and/or CNPC) decide to re-enter (onshore) Syria?
Will the MoUs for offshore acreage turn into firm E&P contracts?
Will Iraq agree with Syria to build a new oil/gas pipeline?
Sponsored
Built for Interpreters
Connect seismic, geology, petrophysics, and planning workflows in one integrated interpretation environment.
.png?upscale=true&width=520&upscale=true&name=7091_-_DDOG_-_AAPG%20(1).png)
