SYRIATV — broadcast
20260920 100000 UTC
514 transcript segments
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[00:00:00] Natural gas stages return of main fields, January 17,
[00:00:03] 2026. Start
[00:00:05] to expedite the implementation of this receiving recovered oil fields from January 18 to 19,
[00:00:09] earlier. This 1300 tons is 2016. Receiving a group of the most prominent fields in Raqqa and Deir
[00:00:12] ez-Zor in March 2026. Entry into the Al-Hasakah
[00:00:16] area, and of course you know the settlement that took place east of
[00:00:19] a percentage of the Euphrates, and
[00:00:21] to say, "Why didn't we take it as a solution from there were accredited companies in developing fields and wells,
[00:00:24] unfortunately, within the capabilities that were available to the engineers
[00:00:28] and technicians who were working there. The reality of the wells and the pipelines is very
[00:00:31] bad. We used to produce
[00:00:33] priority in buying oil from this
[00:00:34] production. They were drilled and brought into operated. 10 new wells were brought into 14,000, on I mean, by the way,
[00:00:36] the exposure in the statements, how was it 140 and today 1,000 or
[00:00:39] 144? Of course,
[00:00:43] creates a debt for we used to produce about 14,000 barrels. Of course, guys, it doesn't mean that for example, today I'm saying
[00:00:47] 14,000 or today we are producing
[00:00:50] Homs, and we changed many 10,000 or 103,000, it means tomorrow it must be 10,000. It could be
[00:00:53] discussing with many 100,000, it could be 100
[00:00:54] countries and companies to secure this and 1,000. I mean, a few days ago, when fuel prices were raised,
[00:00:57] you saw road closures, crude oil stopped for them. The pits we were
[00:01:01] filling from stopped. Some wells stopped production, production dropped to
[00:01:04] 98,000. So it's natural when I say today my production is
[00:01:07] 989, and the day before it was
[00:01:10] and other things, such as taking oil 10,800. Today it's 144. So this is not a contradiction
[00:01:13] in statements. We reached a stage where it was 14,000.
[00:01:16] We stopped about 70 wells in one of the areas, about
[00:01:20] 170-172 wells in one of the fields due to
[00:01:24] safety and the safety of the workers there became the large amount of water and due to radioactive materials and due to formation water
[00:01:27] that used to reach a river called in that area "Death",
[00:01:30] and it is known to the people of the area because of
[00:01:33] the radiation. In the Al-Jardha area, in my meeting
[00:01:37] with some of the dignitaries of the area, they told me
[00:01:39] gasoline supply. If you remember when there was pressure and there are about 100 cancer cases
[00:01:42] gasoline stations, we had three gasoline tankers at due to congestion at pollution and the burners and the poor extraction
[00:01:46] of oil, in addition to excessive extraction and formation water and sand that used to
[00:01:49] come out with
[00:01:51] 6 million cubic meters of
[00:01:52] that were producing from the oil. Therefore, many wells were closed in order to repair
[00:01:55] and evaluate them, and then, God willing,
[00:01:58] involved severe deterioration in we will operate them in a way that ensures occupational safety
[00:02:01] other countries. I mean, we go 1 million cubic meters of and the safety of our people in
[00:02:02] gas from Aqaba, from the area. The most prominent challenges in the energy sector are sustainability,
[00:02:06] production, securing crude oil for
[00:02:08] and chemicals and spare parts, etc.
[00:02:12] Of course, we, ladies and gentlemen, so that you are aware, honorable members of parliament,
[00:02:16] when we entered
[00:02:17] I mean, we were able to enter Syria, all of Syria's it will be in service in a few weeks.
[00:02:20] 6.3 million cubic meters of warehouses were empty, meaning we had no substations, we had no
[00:02:23] low or high voltage transformers for electricity, we had no
[00:02:28] vision, is to go towards a contract with valves or spare parts or pipelines or anything
[00:02:30] that we could use to develop fields or power
[00:02:34] plants. I mean, today, if a transformer in the Damascus
[00:02:37] countryside gets damaged, we have to wait to go
[00:02:41] and buy one, okay, so we can reinstall
[00:02:44] it. And this is one of
[00:02:47] energy is no longer a the reasons that some professors, members of parliament,
[00:02:50] mentioned, regarding why we sometimes go for direct contracts, because if I go
[00:02:54] and make a tender to buy ten transformers, I will leave a neighborhood for two months
[00:02:58] without electricity until we conduct the tender, and an external tender takes 50 days,
[00:03:01] and then bid evaluation, awarding, and so
[00:03:03] take into account that it would provide us with the full price of this on. So sometimes you are forced to issue a justification memo
[00:03:07] in order to enter into a direct contract, such as the formation water that
[00:03:11] world. Many countries in the world, in was about to reach the Euphrates River. We informed the governor of Deir ez-Zor,
[00:03:14] Mr. Ghassan, who was previously, before the new governor, Mr. Ziad, that water
[00:03:17] at 300 meters, polluted water, would reach the Euphrates River,
[00:03:21] it is imports. So we take it to and this would cause an environmental catastrophe for us. Even the United Nations sent some pictures of the problem,
[00:03:25] so we had to make a direct contract with a company to build
[00:03:29] tanks and pump water and reinject it into the wells in order to
[00:03:32] prevent reaching a critical point in the pollution of the Euphrates River,
[00:03:36] and this will be a very big problem for drinking water and the people
[00:03:39] in the area. The machinery and services are dilapidated, like
[00:03:44] are 312,000 cubic meters of other sectors, like other ministries. Some ministries have updated some machinery,
[00:03:48] with this electricity. We have not reached self-sufficiency buying it in auctions at diesel and 188,000 of and some ministries are still running on we can't find it. The brother who asked about machinery, perhaps the newest car is from 2005, as it was in the Ministry
[00:03:52] of Electricity. I mean, after the Syrian Electricity Company's cadres
[00:03:56] and digital transformation, there is no data, no database in Syria, unfortunately.
[00:04:00] I mean, we took over, you have to go and conduct new studies, and the financial
[00:04:05] Gas Pipeline, which extends from procedures were also very difficult, and the issue of allocating foreign
[00:04:09] currency and the Central Bank, and this was a challenge for the ministry in terms of procurement, as
[00:04:13] are dilapidated, and the people of Aleppo know this one of the honorable members of parliament mentioned. The question about
[00:04:16] the inventory. The inventory needs
[00:04:19] million cubic meters. We worked on this line
[00:04:19] 950 megawatts it distributes to money, it needs foreign currency, it needs tank rehabilitation, it needs
[00:04:22] to buy tanks, God willing, we will mention it, God willing, in the context of
[00:04:25] the presentation. Developing oil and gas production, as we mentioned
[00:04:29] earlier, that what started at 7,000 reached a very
[00:04:33] short period of time, meaning
[00:04:35] statement. Our oil needs are about our first entry into the region was go back to burning the same amount of 135 to 14,000, then it returned
[00:04:39] which we were asked about, and stabilized now at about 11,000. It decreases
[00:04:42] and increases to 112,000, 10,800, 107,
[00:04:45] depending on the state of the wells, production, and transportation. This is an issue that, God willing,
[00:04:49] we will discuss shortly.
[00:04:52] Gas production development also.
[00:04:55] The rest of Homs refinery works on Gas production was about 6 million cubic meters of gas. Of course,
[00:04:58] Syria's gas needs are 24. million cubic
[00:05:00] meters. To operate all our ready
[00:05:03] stations currently, we need 24 million cubic
[00:05:06] meters of gas. We will get to that, God willing. Today, we are producing 6 million, meaning
[00:05:10] a quarter, sorry, we used to produce 6. We raised it to 8.1 after
[00:05:14] we brought part of the Conoco plant online. Of course, yesterday it was
[00:05:17] 8.4. The day we prepared the presentation, the day we started it,
[00:05:20] from Wednesday and Thursday, it was 8. Yesterday it was 8.4 or
[00:05:24] 8.5 million cubic meters. Before that, it reached 9 million, according to the same
[00:05:28] oil story. Closing wells and bringing new wells into service.
[00:05:31] Reactivating drilling operations. We drilled about
[00:05:34] 4, 484 meters and brought two drilling rigs into service after
[00:05:38] they were idle and stopped. 21 wells were
[00:05:41] repaired and 52 wells were
[00:05:46] production. This is the balance
[00:05:49] of need, and this is a very important point,
[00:05:51] the balance of Syria's need. We
[00:05:54] need about 300,000 barrels
[00:05:57] of crude oil daily. We need 300,000
[00:06:01] barrels of crude oil daily to cover Syria's needs.
[00:06:04] I mentioned previously last year that when the ministry
[00:06:08] was first established, we had 150,000 barrels.
[00:06:11] Okay. Meaning it used to cover our needs. We would buy crude oil,
[00:06:14] refine it in our refineries. Baniyas was operating, and Homs
[00:06:18] refinery was operating. From the production of the refineries, we would cover the local market. This was
[00:06:22] when Syria's consumption was 15,000. The entire eastern Euphrates
[00:06:25] region did not, I mean, did not take oil derivatives from us. Hasaka
[00:06:28] and Deir ez-Zor, east of the Euphrates, in addition to Raqqa, and in addition to
[00:06:32] a large part of Aleppo, were not taking oil derivatives from
[00:06:36] the 15,000 barrels. A part was coming from the eastern Euphrates
[00:06:39] region to the burners. There were smuggling operations and other things, and this was also
[00:06:43] not included in our statistics of the 15,000 barrels. We used to say we are
[00:06:46] refining, we are refining these 15,000. Of course, our needs
[00:06:49] grew and increased significantly for several reasons. Firstly, these
[00:06:53] areas entered our areas, meaning they started taking
[00:06:57] oil derivatives through the ministry, Hasaka, Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa, and so on.
[00:07:01] Secondly, the stoppage of the burners
[00:07:04] the oil that was coming to us from the eastern Euphrates region, which
[00:07:08] was supplying the market, even if by a percentage of five to
[00:07:11] 10%, depending on winter and summer, and so on. The third thing is
[00:07:15] the growth in demand. I mean, today, the industrial city in Aleppo started with 900 factories,
[00:07:19] reached 1,500. This needs energy, it needs diesel and fuel for
[00:07:22] operation. The number of cars that were in Syria
[00:07:26] in 2025 was
[00:07:29] 2.5 million cars. Today, the number of cars
[00:07:32] is 3.6 million cars. 1.1 million
[00:07:35] cars increased during this year. All of this is fuel consumption, meaning fuel doubles.
[00:07:39] Imagine from 2.5 million to 3.6. How big is this gap?
[00:07:42] It needs to be closed. All of this led to the growth
[00:07:45] in demand from 15,000 barrels one day, we didn't talk about it, to
[00:07:49] 30,000 barrels. Of course, this 30,000 might decrease a little in spring,
[00:07:52] okay, meaning it might become 270,000, 280,000. It might
[00:07:55] reach 325,000 to 350,000 barrels in winter,
[00:07:59] okay? The average demand is 30,000 barrels.
[00:08:02] Okay, here I also want to explain a very important issue: Syria's
[00:08:06] production, the refining capacity of the stations or
[00:08:10] refineries in Syria, how much? Homs refinery, Baniyas refinery, before
[00:08:13] the shutdown for comprehensive maintenance, was about 90,000 to
[00:08:16] 100,000 barrels daily, and Homs refinery was about
[00:08:19] 40,000 to 50,000 barrels daily. Meaning we used to produce an average of
[00:08:23] 150,000 barrels daily. We bring 150,000 barrels.
[00:08:27] Our demand is 30,000 barrels. Part of it is local production, and part
[00:08:30] of it is imports,
[00:08:34] the refineries. These refineries refine 150,000
[00:08:37] barrels for us. The remaining deficit is 150,000 barrels. What do I
[00:08:40] do? We buy oil derivatives. We buy diesel and gasoline
[00:08:44] equivalent to 150,000 barrels,
[00:08:47] equivalent to 100. I mean, if I had the refining capacity
[00:08:50] of 300,000 barrels, I wouldn't need to buy derivatives. I would buy 30,000
[00:08:53] barrels or my local production is 10,000 and I buy 20,000, okay?
[00:08:57] We refine them here, and it covers the market. There's no need to buy derivatives.
[00:09:01] However, our refining capacity is 150,000 barrels.
[00:09:05] Therefore, we cannot cover the market's need for oil derivatives
[00:09:08] without importing diesel and gasoline. Therefore,
[00:09:11] we will cover this, God willing, after
[00:09:15] Baniyas refinery returns to operation. Our local production, as we
[00:09:18] mentioned at the time of preparing this report, was 112,000, so I have a gap of about
[00:09:22] 20,000 barrels, which is buying crude
[00:09:26] oil. Of course, now we will talk about the issue of contradiction
[00:09:29] in statements because one of the statements was that Syria exports oil,
[00:09:33] and a video clip came out at the end showing an oil shipment that left. True,
[00:09:37] Syria is now said to be producing 100,000 barrels,
[00:09:39] 110,000 barrels. Of these 10,000,
[00:09:43] 80,000 barrels is heavy oil that
[00:09:46] cannot be refined in Baniyas refinery. Baniyas refinery is designed to refine light
[00:09:50] oil. We currently produce 20-25,000 barrels
[00:09:53] of light oil. We take this to Baniyas refinery. Then we
[00:09:57] buy 100,000 barrels from the market,
[00:10:01] or a little less, approximately, to operate it at its full capacity. Tomorrow we will buy
[00:10:04] more, but it became 13,000.
[00:10:08] heavy oil. So of these 80,000 barrels produced from heavy oil, I take
[00:10:12] some for Homs refinery. How much do I have left? 30,000
[00:10:15] barrels. These go and are collected in our warehouses, in our tanks.
[00:10:19] We keep collecting them until they fill a ship. Then we export them because we
[00:10:22] don't have enough refining capacity. And these are the same. Now, what I
[00:10:25] stopped exporting currently, I stopped exporting them. I will take them to the local
[00:10:29] electrical refineries to produce diesel. Of course, local electrical refineries
[00:10:33] are not economically feasible and not environmentally feasible, and they cause great harm. Therefore, this
[00:10:37] step that some honorable members of parliament mentioned, that
[00:10:40] why didn't you take this step as a solution? Of course, it's easy for someone
[00:10:46] the beginning?" Someone sent me a video clip saying, "Why didn't you take this as a solution?"
[00:10:49] This, as one of the members of parliament mentioned, put his finger on the wound, that this
[00:10:53] issue will cause fraud. When we had a crisis
[00:10:56] for four days in gasoline,
[00:11:00] 172 violations were recorded
[00:11:03] at stations. So this will cause fraud, it will cause mixing, and we will have a very
[00:11:06] big challenge in monitoring. It's not easy for you to introduce three materials. Therefore, we were not
[00:11:10] going to this option. The second material, which is 150
[00:11:14] Syrian pounds, we set it. We were
[00:11:19] type of material. It wasn't, I mean, when we raised prices, no party
[00:11:23] agreed to export this material. Then, thank God, we were able to secure this material
[00:11:26] after the prices, and if you only offer improved diesel at
[00:11:30] 115 Syrian pounds in the market, there will only be pressure on it
[00:11:33] and problems. So when you offer another material, it will relieve pressure on everyone.
[00:11:37] So this was the solution. We started it from the beginning before
[00:11:41] pricing, but we didn't find the tools and we couldn't implement it until
[00:11:44] after we were able, I mean, after we raised the prices of
[00:11:48] oil derivatives, which is still
[00:11:52] subsidized, and we will mention the figures, God willing, and what the honorable
[00:11:56] members of parliament requested, the pricing equation, God willing, we will get to it, God willing.
[00:11:59] Okay, the gas balance is also the same. Our need is 24 million, our production
[00:12:03] is 6 million, 8.1
[00:12:05] currently. The supply is about 8 or 8.4.
[00:12:09] It varies, about 8.5 million. Let's fix it at about 8.5
[00:12:12] million. We have about
[00:12:16] gas, or 6.3, more accurately, it's purchases. We are currently
[00:12:19] buying gas, 5.3 from the north, from
[00:12:22] Azerbaijan to Turkey, and we are buying
[00:12:27] Jordan, from Aqaba. There is a ship there. Anyway, from Jordan. Jordan doesn't have gas,
[00:12:31] it's imported. So there's a regasification ship that converts
[00:12:34] liquefied natural gas (LNG) into gas, which is then pumped into
[00:12:37] the Arab Gas Pipeline. We receive it in Syria, we transfer it to
[00:12:41] stations, Deir Ali station generates electricity. So I am practically buying
[00:12:45] gas daily. I am paying, before gas prices rose, we weren't
[00:12:49] paying this amount. We are currently paying about
[00:12:52] 140 million cubic meters. The
[00:12:56] 140 million dollars is the price of gas for 6.3
[00:13:00] million cubic meters monthly. This 140 million is the price of
[00:13:03] gas for generation. 140 million. Of course, part
[00:13:07] of it was a grant from Qatar, thankfully, but the grant ended in August,
[00:13:11] and these amounts were 3.2. Half of this gas
[00:13:14] was a grant and the other half was purchased. Now it's all purchased, we are buying it all
[00:13:18] and paying for it. That's why when the fuel crisis happened recently
[00:13:22] and gas prices rose significantly, the Ministry of Finance did not
[00:13:28] gas. So it will reduce our gas purchases. We might
[00:13:32] cut two to three million in purchases during the coming period.
[00:13:36] Of course, this will affect generation, it will affect the number of hours of electricity
[00:13:39] connection, because the Ministry of
[00:13:42] Finance does not have the capacity to fund it, because basically
[00:13:45] we were supplying the treasury with about
[00:13:48] 250 million per month. Okay.
[00:13:51] As the Syrian Petroleum Company, last month we asked them to
[00:13:55] cover our deficit. We started paying for gas, and fuel was losing
[00:13:59] a lot of money. So they said we don't have the ability to cover
[00:14:02] the deficit. Okay. The Ministry of Finance is saying I don't have the ability to cover your deficit. So I am
[00:14:06] faced with choices. Either we live in a fuel crisis, that's it,
[00:14:09] meaning whatever money I have, I go and buy and that's it. We live in fuel
[00:14:13] crises, diesel and gasoline or I also cut off gas
[00:14:16] purchases completely. I stop these 6 million completely from the south and from the north. Electricity
[00:14:20] returns from two to three hours. This 8 million. This is the system that used to be implemented. They would say
[00:14:24] you know electricity was cheap. How was
[00:14:27] the system, okay? And electricity is this, this is the solution.
[00:14:31] That the system used to produce 6 million. Now we are eight and a bit. This is what it sends to power
[00:14:35] generation stations. This quantity is sent to power generation stations. It burns gas and generates
[00:14:38] electrical energy. It used to generate 950 megawatts from this gas.
[00:14:44] people. In winter, they would get one to two hours. When we entered Damascus, they would get
[00:14:47] two hours of electricity. When we returned, we started
[00:14:51] buying gas and rehabilitated the stations and increased
[00:14:54] our production until electricity reached this level. I can stop the gas,
[00:14:59] gas. Yes, usually I don't have any costs, so electricity
[00:15:03] remains cheap and subsidized and so on, but this cannot build an energy sector and
[00:15:06] cannot lead us to a situation because I have cities, we have many
[00:15:09] industrial cities that we are giving 24 hours of electricity.
[00:15:13] They consume more than that. They consume about 40% of the energy.
[00:15:16] Industrial and commercial cities, meaning industrial and commercial consumption is 40% of the energy.
[00:15:20] So if I reduce this, all the factories that reopened in
[00:15:24] Syria will close again. A lot, and this will
[00:15:26] give a very bad impression to industrialists. So instead of economic
[00:15:30] growth, the graph will not be rising, it will stop
[00:15:34] or it will go down, because energy is the basis, as we mentioned.
[00:15:38] For the economy, refineries and refining. We mentioned that Baniyas refinery's nominal
[00:15:41] design capacity is about 130,000 barrels. Homs
[00:15:45] refinery, 11,000. Currently, it produces between 30,000 and 40,000. God willing, by the end of
[00:15:48] the month, by the end of this month, it will reach 50,000. We have a cracking unit
[00:15:52] with problems. Homs refinery is very old and dilapidated. The Syrian
[00:15:56] Petroleum Company's opinion from the beginning, when it was established, was to close it because it was not economically
[00:15:59] feasible. So I was committed to
[00:16:02] preserving it initially, and then we agreed on this idea of preserving it
[00:16:06] initially. Because it is an energy security. It can refine the heavy
[00:16:10] oil we have in Syria in case of crises. Subhan Allah, we fell into a crisis again and found
[00:16:14] the importance of Homs refinery in its poor technical condition, but it is
[00:16:18] an energy security for Syria. I will not close it until we can
[00:16:21] prepare new refineries that cover the local need for
[00:16:25] petroleum derivatives. The reasons for the maintenance of
[00:16:28] Baniyas. One of the honorable members of parliament asked me if
[00:16:32] it was necessary, could we have postponed it? Baniyas's maintenance was already
[00:16:35] postponed. Its operating system had 99 shutdowns during
[00:16:38] the revolution. I mean, and specialists know what it means to
[00:16:42] shut down a facility and restart it, and to shut down a facility that has deteriorated significantly.
[00:16:46] The regime did not carry out rehabilitation. There were sanctions,
[00:16:50] and the regime did not carry out rehabilitation. There were no spare parts for the refinery.
[00:16:53] It was operating in a way that technicians
[00:16:57] described as a ticking time bomb. And finally, occupational
[00:17:02] at stake. And finally, they gave me a paper because I postponed it so much due to
[00:17:05] crisis after crisis. We
[00:17:07] postponed it so much, hoping that the supply chain crisis and so on would be resolved.
[00:17:11] They told me, "Please write us a paper stating that
[00:17:15] you take responsibility for the safety of the workers and the safety
[00:17:18] of the facility so that we can continue." Otherwise, we cannot continue.
[00:17:22] No, for us, the safety of the workers and occupational safety and the safety
[00:17:25] of the facility are our priority. Therefore, we stopped it and made a decision to stop it. It was
[00:17:29] a purely technical decision, 100%. The design life of many
[00:17:33] equipment was exceeded. The maintenance
[00:17:35] the channels. Internally, the refinery did not undergo
[00:17:39] any maintenance during the past period. Increased probability
[00:17:42] of breakdowns and shutdowns. Maintenance became necessary to
[00:17:46] raise its efficiency as well. I mean, it already produces 90,000, why don't I make it
[00:17:49] 130? Okay, it would also reduce my burden. So many reasons
[00:17:53] led us to stop Baniyas refinery, and we were already late in doing so. We had
[00:17:57] signed contracts with the company that was supposed to carry out the rehabilitation since
[00:18:00] the beginning of summer, because maintenance of such facilities is always done in summer, not in winter,
[00:18:04] to avoid shutdowns and breakdowns. We had to start in summer, but we postponed
[00:18:08] it hoping that the issue of the Strait of Hormuz and the war in Ukraine and Russia, and so
[00:18:12] on, and supply routes and supply chains and derivatives would be resolved. But we couldn't, we reached
[00:18:15] a critical stage, so we stopped Baniyas refinery. And I
[00:18:19] want to point out here that today the issue of
[00:18:24] supply chain crisis and routes and the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandab Strait
[00:18:28] and so on. It has become complex. I have a problem with supply and demand
[00:18:32] on the roads and straits and transit
[00:18:34] and the supply of materials. This is one problem. Problem
[00:18:38] two is a refining problem.
[00:18:41] If you noticed, there is a refining crisis in the world. Russia's refineries were attacked,
[00:18:45] which used to refine and sell derivatives to the entire
[00:18:49] Kuwait and the Gulf States, also many refineries were affected, so we have a refining
[00:18:53] crisis in the world. Therefore, people, there is no connection
[00:18:56] between the price of Brent oil, which is 103 this morning,
[00:19:00] 103 dollars, and the derivative. What is the price of a ton of diesel today?
[00:19:04] 1570 dollars. Imagine, there is no connection between
[00:19:07] a ton, between the price of Brent barrel and a ton of
[00:19:11] diesel. Usually, when Brent is 103, 104, 105, how much is a ton of
[00:19:14] diesel? 1100, 1150, 150. Today
[00:19:18] it is 1570 because there is a huge demand, so much so that
[00:19:22] tenders, where are the tenders? We are actually
[00:19:25] sea. Diesel is currently being bought in auctions. I mean, today
[00:19:29] the auction opens for this ship. You will find many people asking for it, so this
[00:19:33] price has risen very sharply. Therefore, today there is a refining
[00:19:35] crisis. This morning, I don't know if you read the news, Moscow refinery
[00:19:39] was hit today, and there is no initial report yet on whether the
[00:19:43] region will also be affected. Also yesterday, Cuba, 9
[00:19:47] million people, complete blackout due to energy supply issues and the absence of diesel
[00:19:50] and the absence of oil derivatives and gas. So the crisis is a global
[00:19:53] crisis. Generally, we might have it a bit easier as we have
[00:19:57] some local product and the sea route,
[00:20:00] meaning Syria's location is important for imports, and many
[00:20:03] sister and friendly countries contribute to the supply issue, meaning they might
[00:20:07] give us priority in the supply process. Oil movement
[00:20:13] 11 point, meaning 11
[00:20:16] million or about 12 million liters daily. Let's
[00:20:20] talk, Subhan Allah. Many people are
[00:20:23] accustomed to liters. Our need is approximately 1,000 to
[00:20:26] 11,000 tons daily, which is equivalent to 12 million liters daily.
[00:20:30] This is for diesel. As for gasoline,
[00:20:33] our need is about 6 million to 7 million tons.
[00:20:37] Gasoline daily is about 8 million liters daily.
[00:20:40] The average consumption of fuel is 8500 for power generation stations
[00:20:44] and industry, which we support. We issued a decision some time ago to support it by 400
[00:20:48] dollars per ton, even though we import it at 550 and 570. It was
[00:20:52] more expensive then. The average daily consumption of gas
[00:20:56] is 1300 tons. This is what we were talking about
[00:20:59] household gas, LPG, not the electricity gas we
[00:21:03] talked about earlier. Local production is in front of you, which
[00:21:06] covers
[00:21:09] the need, and the rest is a surplus that we import from
[00:21:13] the market, okay, from the global market through buying
[00:21:16] either crude oil when Baniyas refinery is ready, or oil derivatives now
[00:21:20] with the shutdown of Baniyas refinery, or crude oil and oil derivatives. Crude oil operates
[00:21:24] Baniyas refinery, and I complete the rest of my needs
[00:21:27] from oil derivatives.
[00:21:30] Of course, all this
[00:21:33] the company or securing foreign currency, which is one of the challenges. And I
[00:21:36] hope you help us with this issue. Today, when
[00:21:40] we talk about projects and securing an oil reserve
[00:21:43] and derivatives to avoid falling into crises, we need
[00:21:47] foreign currency. Our idea is that we are
[00:21:51] buying, we are buying oil derivatives from
[00:21:53] the market and crude oil. What do we pay for it? In dollars. What we
[00:21:57] buy, what do we sell it for? In Syrian pounds. So we
[00:22:00] collect Syrian pounds. We collect Syrian pounds. Where do we
[00:22:04] put it? We deposit it.
[00:22:07] We put it at the Central Bank. So what is the Central Bank's duty now? To secure dollars for us
[00:22:11] for purchases. So the Central Bank has priorities. It has health
[00:22:15] and education and defense and
[00:22:18] interior and so on. So we are one of its priorities, but this
[00:22:22] is a lower priority for us. This is one of the points that
[00:22:25] caused delays in
[00:22:32] sea ready to dock, but we hadn't paid
[00:22:35] for them. We hadn't paid for them. And this
[00:22:38] is also a very important issue. It shouldn't be like this. We go with these
[00:22:42] companies, the tenders that the brother mentioned, that we are buying
[00:22:45] through tenders and so on. It shouldn't be like this. Most countries enter into contracts with
[00:22:51] and sign a contract with Saudi Arabia, with Kuwait, with Libya, with oil-producing
[00:22:54] countries to supply 20,000 barrels of crude oil
[00:22:58] daily, or 100,000 barrels of light crude oil, in addition
[00:23:01] to diesel and gasoline, and so on. But we had a problem with sanctions, the effects of which are still
[00:23:04] felt today. SWIFT,
[00:23:07] financial markets and financial transfers, in addition
[00:23:10] to having problems with some of the existing sanctions
[00:23:14] on Syria. If we now, and this is our
[00:23:18] friendly and sisterly countries that produce fuel until we achieve self-sufficiency,
[00:23:22] and God willing, we will get rid of all these crises and problems that
[00:23:25] the energy sector is going through.
[00:23:28] So we practically need 831
[00:23:32] million dollars daily
[00:23:33] to buy
[00:23:36] to buy, sorry, monthly to buy oil derivatives and crude oil,
[00:23:40] 831 million dollars, almost a billion dollars
[00:23:43] to buy oil and oil derivatives.
[00:23:46] We have worked on regulating the market of oil derivatives and services through
[00:23:50] the regulatory framework. We established a services regulation department,
[00:23:53] in addition to establishing a petroleum sector regulation department,
[00:23:57] which set the policies that Mr. Deputy mentioned.
[00:24:00] Regarding stations, we issued new standards and conditions for licensing fuel
[00:24:04] stations. We took into account occupational safety and so on, because we are having some problems
[00:24:08] and fires, and we took into account the quality of services provided
[00:24:11] to citizens, in addition to this committee now setting
[00:24:14] the conditions and standards for licensing power
[00:24:18] stations. In order to
[00:24:22] prepare suitable infrastructure for importing electric cars, which would relieve pressure on fuel,
[00:24:26] but we already have a problem with electricity. I mean, you can use solar
[00:24:30] energy as an alternative in some locations, but I mean, also, if
[00:24:33] charging stations need electricity, and we already have a problem
[00:24:38] in electricity, so it is a complex problem between oil derivatives and
[00:24:42] electricity, and ultimately, all of these are energy carriers. I mean, we have
[00:24:45] crises in them. Oil and gas transmission network and regional connection.
[00:24:49] We have a location. Syria's location is very important. We have an oil
[00:24:52] pipeline, the Arab
[00:24:55] Jordan. We are currently getting 1 million cubic meters from it. There is
[00:24:58] a gap between Homs and Aleppo from the Arab Gas Pipeline,
[00:25:02] which we are now working through the internal network, even getting it
[00:25:05] 5.3
[00:25:09] and requested price offers, and it is currently
[00:25:12] under implementation to complete the Arab Gas Pipeline
[00:25:15] with a financial value of approximately a quarter billion dollars to complete this line.
[00:25:19] Of course, it will be at the expense of the Syrian Petroleum Company, meaning
[00:25:22] its budget is not an investment, but rather from the budget of the Syrian company.
[00:25:25] Also, the Kirkuk-Baniyas pipeline,
[00:25:29] is an old pipeline. Its capacity
[00:25:32] is very low. It is very dilapidated,
[00:25:36] and its cathodic protection has not been working since the Iraq war. The pipeline
[00:25:39] stopped. The pipeline is dilapidated. We conducted a technical study
[00:25:43] for it, and it needs to be completely replaced. Companies entered and signed
[00:25:46] and we signed the understanding with them, a coalition of companies.
[00:25:50] because
[00:25:54] we are a transit country. If we do it from our side and don't get oil
[00:25:57] from there, what's the point of building this pipeline? The first step will be
[00:26:01] from our brothers in Iraq. The Prime Minister recently, about a week ago,
[00:26:05] I read a statement from him directing companies
[00:26:08] pipeline, and God willing, as soon as they start signing contracts,
[00:26:12] because these are memorandums, not official contracts, we will be one of the parties to these
[00:26:15] contracts with these companies. This is also one of the reasons why
[00:26:19] we did not go for a tender for this pipeline, because it is essentially a coalition of companies that will
[00:26:23] start from Kirkuk to Baniyas. So it is the same
[00:26:26] companies that will implement it because we are a transit country. We will
[00:26:30] take a transit fee, and we might set some
[00:26:32] conditions that allow us to have
[00:26:35] pipeline, and the labor and stations and so on.
[00:26:38] Okay, the restoration of strategic lines and facilities. We have restored, of course,
[00:26:42] the Baniyas and Homs refineries several times.
[00:26:45] We rehabilitated them after they were out
[00:27:01] asked about it. This is very important because the issue of transporting oil
[00:27:05] in tankers is unhealthy. First, from the corruption
[00:27:09] that will occur through transportation and theft,
[00:27:12] from the tanker and filling it with water, some of it ten barrels and so
[00:27:16] on. In addition to the issue
[00:27:18] of traffic congestion on the roads, in addition to the issue of
[00:27:22] the impact on the road itself and its technical condition will be affected. Therefore, it is
[00:27:26] not healthy. Our heavy oil pipeline, this pipeline, we have
[00:27:30] more than 1400 violations on it. Meaning, they used to take
[00:27:33] oil from it. We removed these violations. We have completed
[00:27:37] 80% of it in terms of maintenance and rehabilitation. God willing, in
[00:27:40] ideal circumstances, because last time we said it should be operational
[00:27:44] by the end of September,
[00:27:47] this pipeline. But
[00:27:50] we found an area with mines, so we contacted the concerned authorities to come
[00:27:54] and remove the mines for rehabilitation. So you encounter challenges sometimes that
[00:27:58] you don't account for. You pumped, pressurized the line, and inspected it,
[00:28:01] but then you find a single mine. The safety of workers is
[00:28:05] a priority, so you need to form teams from the Ministry of Defense or the Ministry
[00:28:08] of Emergency to remove the mines. This takes time and delays us by 10
[00:28:12] to 15 additional days, which we hadn't anticipated. Therefore, God willing,
[00:29:08] Our active depots in Homs
[00:29:12] for diesel are about 102,000 cubic meters. Of course, the tanks'
[00:29:16] technical condition is very poor. We sent a delegation some time ago to Korea.
[00:29:19] They reminded us there that a Korean company has ready-made tanks, because
[00:29:23] building tanks can take from one to one and a half years. They said they have ready-made tanks
[00:29:27] that can be directly transported and installed. So they went to inspect these tanks
[00:29:31] and study their technical condition. And God willing, once they send us the report,
[00:29:34] they were in Korea during the past days. Once they send us the technical
[00:29:38] condition, we might approve and purchase them directly. There are underground tanks in Deir
[00:29:42] ez-Zor. The total active capacities
[00:29:48] gasoline. Storage and enhancing supply security, which we were also asked about by the committee,
[00:29:52] thank you. We have been striving from the beginning to secure
[00:29:55] a stock, but all our depots, and you all know this, each of you from your governorate
[00:29:59] knows many of the depots. The best depots we have are in Homs.
[00:30:02] Some depots are somewhat acceptable, and we have some in Adra and the rest of the depots in
[00:30:06] the Aleppo countryside, in Khan
[00:30:09] Tuman, also in Khan
[00:30:12] al-Asal, in al-Ramouseh, all
[00:30:15] well. The depots in Idlib that were in Kafr Batikh are also
[00:30:19] completely destroyed. They cannot be utilized.
[00:30:22] So many tanks and depots need to be rebuilt and rehabilitated.
[00:30:26] We have started rehabilitating some of them,
[00:30:29] but the investment budgets, as we said, cannot sustain everything.
[00:30:33] Today we have priorities. In the hierarchy of priorities, they tell us the Ministry of Finance to stop
[00:30:37] revenues to the treasury for a year. Then we will
[00:30:40] restore everything. But if the Ministry of Finance is asking us, we have increased
[00:30:44] salaries and wages, and we have investment projects, and you are a very
[00:30:48] large part of these issues as
[00:30:52] a petroleum company. So they don't give us a single day's respite in
[00:30:55] terms of financial transfers, as we mentioned. We used to give them $250 million that.