Google Cloud Speech-to-Text API (Chirp) + Gemini 2.5 Flash Non-Thinking. Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:00The reclaimed oil fields were received from January 18 to 19,
00:00:055.3 from the north, from 2016. A group of the most prominent fields in Raqqa and Deir
00:00:07God willing, by the end of the month, by the end of this ez-Zor were received in March 2026. Entry was made
00:00:10into the Hasakah area, and of course you know
00:00:15So there is a regasification the Syrian Petroleum Company from closing wells and bringing new wells into the settlement that took place east of the Euphrates, and there were accredited companies
00:00:18in the development of fields and wells. Unfortunately, within the capabilities
00:00:21that were available to the engineers and technicians who were working there, the condition
00:00:25of the wells and the safety measures were very bad.
00:00:28priority in buying oil from this We used to produce 140 thousand on, I mean, regarding the statements
00:00:32about how it was 140 and today 1000 or
00:00:36around 144. Of course,
00:00:38140 million cubic we used to produce about 14,000 barrels. Of course, people, there's no, I mean, there's no, for example, today I'm saying
00:00:4214,000 or today we are producing
00:00:45Homs. We changed many 10,000 or 13,000, meaning tomorrow it must be 13,000, it could be
00:00:48discussing with many 100,000, it could be
00:00:50countries and companies to secure this 11,000. I mean, a few days ago, when fuel prices were raised,
00:00:52you saw road closures, crude oil stopped coming here. The tanks we used
00:00:56to fill stopped. Some wells stopped production, and production dropped to
00:01:01so it's natural when I say today's production is 98,000, and the day before it was
00:01:05and other things, like removing 108, today 144. So this
00:01:08is not a contradiction in statements. We reached a stage where it was 14,000.
00:01:11We stopped about 70 wells in one area, about
00:01:15170, 172 wells in one of the fields due to
00:01:19safety and the safety of its workers were at large water intrusion and due to radioactive materials, and due to formation water
00:01:22that used to reach a river called in that area the River of Death,
00:01:26and it is known to the people of the area due to
00:01:28radiation. The area of Al-Jardha, in my meeting
00:01:32with some dignitaries of that area, they mentioned to me that there are about 100 cases of cancer
00:01:37Syrian Petroleum Company, now due to 250 million per month, pollution, burning, and poor extraction
00:01:41of oil, in addition to excessive extraction and formation water and sand that used to
00:01:466 million cubic meters of come out with the oil,
00:01:47that were producing the oil. Therefore, many wells were closed for rehabilitation
00:01:50and evaluation, after which, God willing, we will operate them
00:01:54in a way that ensures occupational safety
00:01:56and we buy one million cubic meters of and the safety of our people in
00:01:58gas from Aqaba, from the region. The most prominent challenges in the sector.
00:02:01Sustainability of production, securing crude oil for
00:02:03and chemicals and spare parts
00:02:07and so on. Of course, people, just so you know, honorable members of parliament,
00:02:11when we entered
00:02:13system? Okay, Syria, all of Syria's
00:02:166.3 million cubic meters of warehouses were empty, meaning we have no conversion stations, we have no
00:02:18low or high voltage transformers for electricity, we have no
00:02:22valves or spare parts or pipelines or anything
00:02:25that we could use in developing fields or stations.
00:02:29I mean, today, if a transformer is hit, for example,
00:02:32in the Damascus countryside, we have to wait to go
00:02:36and buy one, okay, until we install it
00:02:39again. This is one of
00:02:42is no longer in the reasons mentioned
00:02:44amounts were 3.2. Half of this by some members of parliament regarding the issue of why we sometimes enter
00:02:47into direct agreements, because if I want to go and tender for the purchase of ten transformers, I have to
00:02:51leave a neighborhood without electricity for two months until we conduct
00:02:55the tender, and an international tender takes 50 days, and the bids are evaluated and awarded, and so
00:02:59budget to provide us with the full cost on. So sometimes you are forced to write a justification memo
00:03:02in order to enter into a direct agreement, such as with the formation water that
00:03:07world. Many countries in the world, in was about to reach the Euphrates River. The governor of Deir ez-Zor,
00:03:09Mr. Ghassan, previously, before the new governor, Mr. Ziad, told us that
00:03:12polluted water at a depth of 300 meters will reach
00:03:16the Euphrates River, and this will cause an environmental disaster even the United Nations sent some pictures
00:03:20that it's a problem, so we had to enter into a direct agreement with a company to
00:03:23build tanks and pump the water and reinject it into the wells
00:03:27in order to avoid reaching a critical point in polluting the Euphrates
00:03:30River, and this will be a very big problem for drinking water
00:03:34and the people and residents in the area. The machinery
00:03:37and services are dilapidated, like other
00:03:39are 312,000 cubic meters of
00:03:40even we can't find it. The brother who asked about sectors, like other ministries. Some
00:03:41diesel and 188,000 of ministries have updated some machinery, and some ministries are still running on
00:03:44machinery, perhaps the newest car from 2005, as it was in the Ministry
00:03:47of Electricity. I mean, after the Syrian Electricity Company
00:03:50and the digital transformation, there is no data, no
00:03:53database in Syria, unfortunately. I mean, we received it,
00:03:56you have to go and conduct new studies, and the procedures
00:04:01need for oil derivatives. were also very difficult, and the issue of allocating foreign currency
00:04:04and the central bank, this was a challenge for the ministry regarding purchasing, as
00:04:08are dilapidated, and the people of Aleppo know this one of the honorable members of parliament mentioned, the issue of the question about
00:04:12the reserve. The reserve needs
00:04:14specialists know what it means to stop
00:04:14950 megawatts, and distribute it to money, it needs foreign currency, it needs rehabilitation of tanks, it needs
00:04:17to buy tanks. God willing, we will mention it in the context
00:04:21of the presentation. Oil and gas production development,
00:04:24There are no spare parts as we mentioned earlier, the oil that started at 7,000 reached a period of time, and it was very ready,
00:04:28meaning our first entry into the region was 135 to
00:04:3114,000, then it returned and settled at around
00:04:3411,000, decreasing
00:04:37and increasing, 112, 10,800, 10,7 according to
00:04:41the well and production and transportation situation. This is an issue that, God willing,
00:04:44we will delve into shortly.
00:04:47Gas production development, also, gas production was around 6
00:04:51million cubic meters of gas. Of course, Syria's gas needs are 24
00:04:55thing. Our need is 24 million. million cubic meters. To operate all our currently
00:04:58ready stations, we need 24 million cubic meters of
00:05:02gas. We will get to that, God willing. Today we are producing 6 million, meaning
00:05:07The first step will be from our brothers in a quarter. Sorry, we were producing 6, we raised it to 8.1 after we brought part of the Conoco plant
00:05:11online. Of course, yesterday it was 8.
00:05:13When we prepared the presentation, when we started it, from Wednesday
00:05:17and Thursday it was 8. Yesterday it was 8.4 or 8.5
00:05:20million cubic meters. Before that, it reached 9 million, according to the same story as oil,
00:05:26service, reactivating drilling operations. We drilled about
00:05:30four, 4840 meters, and we brought two drilling rigs into service after they
00:05:33were idle and stopped. 21 wells were
00:05:37repaired, 152 wells were operated, ten new wells were brought into production,
00:05:41they were drilled and brought into production. This is the balance of
00:05:44need, and this is a very
00:05:47important point, the balance of need for Syria. We
00:05:50need about 300 thousand barrels
00:05:52of crude oil daily. We need 300 thousand
00:05:56barrels of crude oil daily to cover Syria's needs.
00:06:00I mentioned previously, from last year, that when
00:06:04the ministry was first established, we had 150 thousand
00:06:06barrels, okay? I mean, it used to cover our needs. We buy crude
00:06:09oil and refine it in our refineries. Baniyas was operating, and Homs
00:06:13refinery was operating. From the refinery's production, we cover the local market, and this was
00:06:17when Syria's consumption was 15,000. The entire eastern Euphrates region
00:06:21did not, I mean, did not take oil derivatives from us. Hasakah
00:06:23and Deir ez-Zor east of the Euphrates, in addition to Raqqa, and in addition to
00:06:27a large part of Aleppo, were not taking oil derivatives from the
00:06:31150 thousand barrels. A part was coming from the eastern
00:06:35Euphrates region to the burning facilities. Smuggling and other activities were taking place. This was also
00:06:38not included in our statistics for the 150 thousand barrels we were talking about.
00:06:42We are repeating it, it is 15,000. Of course, our needs grew
00:06:46and increased significantly for several reasons. Firstly, the inclusion of these areas
00:06:49within our areas, so they started taking
00:06:52oil derivatives through the Ministry, Hasakah, Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa, and so on.
00:06:56Secondly, stopping the burning facilities
00:06:59oil that was coming to us from the eastern Euphrates region, which was
00:07:03supplying the market, even if it was a percentage from five to 10% depending on
00:07:07winter and summer and so on. The third thing is the growth of demand.
00:07:11I mean, today, the industrial city in Aleppo started with 900 factories and reached 1500.
00:07:15These need energy, they need diesel and fuel for operation.
00:07:19The number of cars that were in Syria in
00:07:222025 was two and a half million cars.
00:07:26Today, the number of cars is 3.6 million
00:07:29cars, 1,100,000 cars increased during this year. This all
00:07:32means fuel consumption is doubling. Imagine from 2.5 million to
00:07:363.6, how big is that gap that needs to be closed?
00:07:39All of this led to a growth in demand from 100%
00:07:43barrels one day, we didn't talk about it, to 30,000 barrels. Of course, this
00:07:4530,000 might decrease a little in spring, okay? I mean, it might become 270
00:07:49thousand, 280,000, and it might reach 325 to
00:07:52350 thousand barrels in winter.
00:07:56Okay, the average need is 30,000 barrels.
00:08:00Here, I also want to explain a very important issue: Syria's
00:08:03production capacity of refineries in Syria. How many
00:08:07refineries? Homs and Baniyas, before the shutdown for comprehensive maintenance, were
00:08:10about 9,000 to 10,000
00:08:12barrels per day, and Homs refinery was about 40 to 50,000 barrels per day. So we used to
00:08:16produce an average of 15,000 barrels
00:08:19per day. We bring 15,000 barrels, 30,000
00:08:22barrels is our need. Part of it is local production, and part of it
00:08:26is imports, so we take it to the refinery.
00:08:30These refineries refine 15,000 barrels.
00:08:33The remaining 15,000 barrels, what do I do? We buy oil derivatives.
00:08:37We buy diesel and gasoline equivalent
00:08:41to 15,000 barrels. Equivalent to 100, meaning if I
00:08:44had a refining capacity of 30,000 barrels, there would be no need
00:08:47to buy derivatives. I would buy 30,000 barrels, or local production of 100
00:08:51thousand, and buy 20,000, okay? I would refine them here, and it would cover the market. There would be
00:08:55no need to buy derivatives. However, our refining capacity is
00:08:58150 thousand barrels, so we cannot cover
00:09:02the market's need for oil derivatives without importing diesel
00:09:05and gasoline. Therefore, our need is 15,000.
00:09:08We can cover this, God willing, after Baniyas refinery returns to
00:09:12operation. Our local production, as we mentioned, at the time of preparing this report, was
00:09:15112,000. So we have a gap of about 20,000 barrels, which
00:09:19is the purchase of crude oil. Of course, now we come
00:09:23to another issue. There is a contradiction in statements because one of
00:09:27the statements says Syria exports oil, and a video clip came out at the end showing a shipment of oil
00:09:30leaving. True, Syria is now said to produce 100,000
00:09:34barrels, 11,000 barrels. This
00:09:37100,000 barrels is heavy oil
00:09:41that cannot be refined in Baniyas refinery. Baniyas refinery is designed
00:09:44to refine light oil.
00:09:47We currently produce 20-25 thousand barrels of light oil. We take this
00:09:51to Baniyas refinery, and then we buy another 10,000 barrels
00:09:54from the market, or a little less, to operate
00:09:58its capacity. Tomorrow, we will buy more, but it became 13,000.
00:10:02The rest of Homs refinery works with heavy oil. So, out of the 8,000 barrels
00:10:05of heavy oil produced, we take 5,000 to Homs refinery. How much
00:10:09is left? 3,000 barrels. These are collected
00:10:12in our warehouses, in our tanks. We keep collecting them until they become a shipment,
00:10:16and then we export them because we don't have refining capacity.
00:10:19And these are the same ones that I stopped exporting currently. I will take
00:10:22them to the local electric refineries to produce
00:10:26diesel. Of course, local electric refineries are not economically
00:10:30viable and are not environmentally viable and cause great harm.
00:10:33Therefore, this step that some members of parliament mentioned,
00:10:37saying why didn't you take this step as a solution? Of course, it's easy for someone to say, why didn't we
00:10:40take it as a solution from the beginning? Someone sent me a video clip saying, brother, why didn't you take
00:10:44this as a solution? This, as one of the members of parliament mentioned, hitting
00:10:48the nail on the head, this issue will lead to
00:10:52fraud, and we, when there was a crisis for four days
00:10:55with gasoline, 172 violations were
00:10:58recorded at stations. So this will cause fraud, it will cause mixing, and we will have a very
00:11:02big challenge in monitoring. It's not easy for you to introduce three materials. Therefore, we were not
00:11:06going for this option. We did not have the second material, which was 150
00:11:09pounds, that we set. We were
00:11:15type of material. There was no, I mean, when we raised prices, no party
00:11:18agreed to export this material. Then, thank God, we were able to secure this material
00:11:22after the prices, and you only offer the improved
00:11:25one, which we set at 115 pounds in the market. There will only be pressure on it
00:11:29and problems. So when you offer another material, it will relieve pressure on
00:11:32everyone. So this was the solution we started with from the beginning, before
00:11:36pricing, but we didn't find the tools for it and we couldn't implement it
00:11:39until after we were able, I mean, after we raised
00:11:43the oil derivatives, which
00:11:45are still subsidized, and we will mention
00:11:49the numbers, God willing, and what the honorable members of parliament requested regarding
00:11:52the pricing equation, God willing, we will get to it. Okay, the gas balance is also the same
00:11:56thing. Our need is 24 million, our production is 6 million,
00:11:598.1. Currently, it is around
00:12:038 or 8.4. It varies, around 8.5 million. Let's
00:12:06fix it at around 8.5 million. We have around
00:12:11gas, or 6.3 more accurately, is what we are currently
00:12:15buying. We buy gas 5.3 from the north, from
00:12:18Azerbaijan to Turkey,
00:12:23Jordan, from Aqaba. There is a ship here, anyway, from Jordan. Jordan does not have gas; it is an importer.
00:12:26So there is a regasification ship that converts
00:12:29liquefied natural gas (LNG) into gas, which then pumps
00:12:33it into the Arab Gas Pipeline. We receive it in Syria and transfer it to
00:12:36power plants, the Deir Ali plant, where electricity is generated. So I am practically buying
00:12:41gas daily. I am paying, before gas prices rose, we were not
00:12:44paying this amount. We are currently paying around
00:12:48140 million cubic meters of
00:12:51140 million dollars, the cost of gas for these 6
00:12:55cubic meters per month. This 140 million is the cost of
00:12:59gas for generation. 140 million. Of course, part of it was
00:13:02a grant from Qatar, and we are grateful, but the grant ended
00:13:05in August, and these
00:13:09gas was a grant, and the other half was purchased. Now it's all purchased, we are buying
00:13:13it all and paying for it. That's why when the fuel crisis happened recently
00:13:17and gas prices rose significantly, the Ministry of Finance did not allocate
00:13:20in its
00:13:24of this gas. So it will reduce, I mean, it will reduce our gas purchases. We might
00:13:27cut 2 to 3 million in purchases during the coming period. Of course, this
00:13:31will affect generation, it will affect the number of connection hours
00:13:35for electricity because the Ministry of
00:13:37Finance does not have the capacity to finance because basically
00:13:40we used to contribute to the treasury around
00:13:43250 million per month, okay? As a
00:13:47Syrian Petroleum Company, now last month, we asked them
00:13:50to cover our deficit. We started paying for gas and fuel, which is losing
00:13:54significantly. So they said we do not have the capacity to cover
00:13:57your deficit. Okay? The Ministry of Finance said, I don't have the capacity to cover your deficit. So I am
00:14:01faced with choices. Either we live in a fuel crisis, meaning that's it,
00:14:05I buy whatever money I have and that's it. We live with fuel
00:14:08and diesel and gasoline crises, or I completely stop
00:14:12buying gas, completely stop these 6 million, from the south and from the north, and electricity returns
00:14:16to two to three hours. This is 8 million, and this is the system that used to operate. He says
00:14:19that the electricity tariff was cheap. How was the
00:14:23system? Okay,
00:14:25and this is the solution. The system was producing 6 million. Now we have a little over eight
00:14:29that is sent to the power plants. This quantity is sent to the power plants.
00:14:32It burns gas and generates electricity. It used to generate
00:14:36950 megawatts from this gas,
00:14:39people. In winter, it would come for one to two hours. When we entered Damascus, electricity used to come
00:14:43for two hours. When we returned,
00:14:46we started buying gas and rehabilitated the stations and increased
00:14:49our local production until electricity reached this point. I can stop the gas,
00:14:53burn the same amount of gas, and it's fine. I don't have any costs.
00:14:57So electricity remains cheap and subsidized and so on. But this cannot
00:15:00build an energy sector, nor can we reach a point because I have cities.
00:15:04We have industrial cities, long and wide, that we are supplying with electricity 24 hours a day.
00:15:08They consume more than this. They are consuming about 40% of the energy. Industrial
00:15:12and commercial cities, meaning industrial and commercial consumption, are 40% of the energy. So if
00:15:16I reduce this, all the factories that have reopened in Syria will
00:15:19close again. And this will give a very bad impression
00:15:23عند الصناعيين وعند ف بدلا النمو الاقتصادي ما
00:15:27كان المنحني البيان وفيه تصاعد رح يوقف ولا رح ينزل لانه
00:15:30as we mentioned, for the
00:15:33economy. Refineries and refining. We mentioned that Baniyas refinery's nominal capacity
00:15:37is about 130,000 barrels. Homs refinery
00:15:41currently produces between 30 and 40 thousand.
00:15:45month, it will reach 50,000. We have a upgrading unit that has problems. Homs refinery
00:15:48is very old and dilapidated. The opinion of
00:15:52the beginning, when it was established, was to close it because it was not economically viable.
00:15:55So I was, I mean, I insisted on preserving it
00:15:59initially, and then we agreed on this idea of preserving it initially
00:16:03because it represents energy security. It can refine the heavy oil we have in
00:16:06Syria. In case of crises, by God's will, we returned to a crisis and found the importance of Homs refinery
00:16:10despite its poor technical condition. However, it represents energy
00:16:14security for Syria. We will not close it until we can prepare new
00:16:18refineries that cover the local need for oil derivatives.
00:16:21The reasons for Baniyas's maintenance. One of
00:16:25the honorable members of parliament asked me if it was necessary, could we have
00:16:29postponed it? Baniyas's maintenance was already postponed. It operated
00:16:3299 shutdowns during the revolution. I mean,
00:16:36specialists know what it means to stop a facility and restart it, and to stop
00:16:40a facility that has deteriorated significantly. It did not undergo
00:16:43rehabilitation. There were sanctions, and the regime did not carry out rehabilitation.
00:16:47There are no spare parts for the refinery. It is working,
00:16:51I mean, the technicians described it to me as a ticking
00:16:54time bomb. And finally, occupational
00:16:57stake, and finally, they gave me a paper because I delayed it so much, because
00:17:00of the crisis, crisis, crisis. We delayed it so much, hoping
00:17:04that the crisis of supply chains and procurement would be resolved, and so on. They
00:17:07told me, please write a paper that it is
00:17:10your responsibility for the safety of its workers and the safety
00:17:13of the facility so that we can continue. Otherwise, we cannot continue.
00:17:17No, ultimately, the safety of its workers and occupational safety and the safety
00:17:21of the facility are our priority. Therefore, we shut it down, and we made a decision to shut it down. It was
00:17:24a purely technical decision 100%. Exceeding the design life of many
00:17:28equipment. The maintenance deteriorated severely in
00:17:31the internal channels. The refinery did not undergo
00:17:34any maintenance during the past period. Increased. The probabilities
00:17:38of breakdowns and shutdowns made maintenance necessary to improve
00:17:41its efficiency. Also, I mean, it is already producing 9,000. Why don't I make it 130
00:17:45to reduce the burden on me? Also, many reasons prompted us
00:17:48to shut down Baniyas refinery, and we were actually late in doing so. We
00:17:52signed contracts with the company that will carry out the rehabilitation from the beginning
00:17:55of summer, because maintenance of such facilities is always in the summer, not in the winter,
00:17:59because of shutdowns and breakdowns. We should have started in early summer. We delayed
00:18:03it to solve the issue of the Strait of Hormuz and the war in Ukraine and Russia, and so on.
00:18:09And derivatives, but we couldn't. We reached a critical stage, so we
00:18:12shut down Baniyas refinery. And here I want to point out that
00:18:16today, the issue of energy
00:18:19the world a crisis of supply chains and procurement
00:18:23and routes and the Strait of Hormuz and the Strait of Bab al-Mandeb and so on. It has become
00:18:26complex. I have a problem with supply and procurement in roads
00:18:29and straits and transit and the supply of materials. This is
00:18:33one, this is a problem. Problem two is the refining
00:18:37problem. If you look at the world, we have a refining crisis. Russia's refineries were hit,
00:18:40which used to refine and sell derivatives to the entire
00:18:44Kuwait and the Gulf states, also have many refineries that were affected. So we have a refining
00:18:48crisis in the world. Therefore, people, there is no link
00:18:51and connection between the price of oil, Brent, which is 103 this morning,
00:18:55103 dollars, and the derivative. How much is the price of a ton of diesel
00:18:59today? 1570 dollars. Imagine, there is no link between
00:19:03a ton, between the price of Brent barrel and a ton
00:19:06of fuel oil. Normally, when Brent is 103, 104, 105, how much is
00:19:10a ton of fuel oil? 1100, 1150, 1050.
00:19:13Today it's 1570 because there's high demand,
00:19:17tenders, where are the tenders? We are actually buying it at auctions at sea.
00:19:21Diesel is currently being bought at auctions. I mean, today,
00:19:24the auction opens for this ship, and you find many people asking for it. That's why this
00:19:28price increased so dramatically. Therefore, today there's a refining crisis.
00:19:32This morning, I don't know if you read the news, the Moscow refinery was hit today.
00:19:35And there's no initial report on whether the region will also
00:19:39be affected. Also, yesterday, Cuba,
00:19:429 million people, complete blackout due to energy supplies and the absence of diesel
00:19:46and the absence of oil derivatives and gas. So the crisis is a global
00:19:49crisis. Generally, it might be slightly less severe for us, and we have
00:19:52some local product and the sea route.
00:19:55I mean, Syria's location is very important. We have an oil
00:19:59pipeline, the Arab Gas Pipeline, which is connected from
00:20:02Jordan. We are currently getting one million cubic meters from it. There is
00:20:05a gap between Homs and Aleppo from the Arab Gas Pipeline
00:20:09that we are now working on through the internal network to bring
00:20:12the 5 to 5.3 million cubic
00:20:15meters. This line, we
00:20:18requested price offers, and it is currently under implementation to
00:20:22complete the Arab Gas Pipeline with a financial value of about
00:20:25a quarter of a billion dollars to complete this line. Of course, it will be at the company's expense.
00:20:29The gas balance is also the same
00:20:32Our production is 6 million, 8.1.
00:20:36Currently, it is around
00:20:398 or 8.4. It fluctuates, around 8.5 million. Let's
00:20:42fix it at around 8.5 million. We have around
00:20:456 million cubic meters of gas, or 6.3
00:20:49more accurately, is what we are currently buying. We buy gas
00:20:55Azerbaijan to Turkey, and we buy one million cubic meters of
00:20:58gas from Aqaba, from Jordan, from Aqaba. There is a ship here,
00:21:02anyway, from Jordan. Jordan does not have gas; it is an importer.
00:21:05ship that converts liquefied natural gas (LNG)
00:21:08into gas, which then pumps it into the Arab Gas Pipeline.
00:21:12We receive it in Syria and transfer it to power plants, the Deir Ali plant, where
00:21:16electricity is generated. So I am practically buying 6.3 million cubic meters of
00:21:20gas daily. I am paying, before gas prices rose, we were not
00:21:23paying this amount. We are currently paying
00:21:28meters of 140 million dollars,
00:21:31the cost of gas for these 6 cubic meters per month. This
00:21:35140 million is the cost of gas for generation.
00:21:38140 million. Of course, part of it was a grant from Qatar,
00:21:42and we are grateful, but the grant ended in August, and these
00:21:46amounts were 3.2. Half of this gas was a grant, and the other
00:21:49half was purchased. Now it's all purchased, we are buying it all and paying for it. That's why
00:21:52when the fuel crisis happened recently and gas prices rose significantly,
00:21:56the Ministry of Finance did not allocate in its
00:21:59budget to provide us with the full cost of this gas. So it will reduce,
00:22:02I mean, it will reduce our gas purchases. We might cut 2 to 3 million
00:22:06in purchases during the coming period. Of course, this will affect generation, it will affect
00:22:10the number of connection hours for electricity
00:22:13because the Ministry of Finance does not have the capacity
00:22:17to finance because basically we used to contribute
00:22:20to the treasury around
00:22:24okay? As a
00:22:27last month, we asked them to cover our deficit. We started paying
00:22:30for gas and fuel, which is losing significantly. So they said we do not have
00:22:34the capacity to cover your deficit. Okay? The Ministry of Finance said, I don't
00:22:38have the capacity to cover your deficit. So I am faced with choices. Either we live in a fuel
00:22:41crisis, meaning that's it, I buy whatever money I have
00:22:45and that's it. We live with fuel and diesel and gasoline crises,
00:22:49or I completely stop buying gas, completely stop these 6 million,
00:22:53from the south and from the north, and electricity returns to two to three hours. This is 8
00:22:56million, and this is the system that used to operate. He says that the electricity tariff was cheap.
00:23:00How was the
00:23:03and this is the solution. The system was producing 6 million. Now we have a little over eight
00:23:06that is sent to the power plants. This quantity is sent to the power plants.
00:23:09It burns gas and generates electricity. It used to generate
00:23:13950 megawatts from this gas, 950 megawatts, and distribute it to
00:23:17people. In winter, it would come for one to two hours. When we entered Damascus, electricity used to come
00:23:20for two hours. When we returned, we started buying gas and rehabilitated
00:23:24the stations and increased our local production until
00:23:27electricity reached this point. I can stop the gas,
00:23:28burn the same amount of gas, and it's fine. I don't have any costs.
00:23:32So electricity remains cheap and subsidized and so on. But this cannot
00:23:35build an energy sector, nor can we reach a point because I have cities.
00:23:38We have industrial cities, long and wide, that we are supplying with electricity 24 hours a day.
00:23:42They consume more than this. They are consuming about 40% of the energy. Industrial
00:23:45and commercial cities, meaning industrial and commercial consumption, are 40% of the energy. So if
00:23:48I reduce this, all the factories that have reopened in Syria will
00:23:52close again. And this will give a very bad impression
00:23:56to industrialists and to... So instead of economic growth, the
00:24:00graph, which was rising, will stop or decline because
00:24:03energy is the foundation, as we mentioned, for the
00:24:07economy. Refineries and refining. We mentioned that Baniyas refinery's nominal capacity
00:24:10is about 130,000 barrels. Homs refinery
00:24:13currently produces between 30 and 40 thousand. God willing, by the end of the month, by the end of this
00:24:15month, it will reach 50,000. We have a upgrading unit that has problems. Homs refinery
00:24:19is very old and dilapidated. The opinion of the Syrian Petroleum Company from
00:24:22the beginning, when it was established, was to close it because it was not economically viable.
00:24:26So I was, I mean, I insisted on preserving it
00:24:30initially, and then we agreed on this idea of preserving it initially
00:24:33because it represents energy security. It can refine the heavy oil we have in
00:24:37Syria. In case of crises, by God's will, we returned to a crisis and found the importance of Homs refinery
00:24:40despite its poor technical condition. However, it represents energy
00:24:44security for Syria. We will not close it until we can prepare new
00:24:47refineries that cover the local
00:24:51The reasons for Baniyas's maintenance. One of
00:24:54the honorable members of parliament asked me if it was necessary, could we have
00:24:57postponed it? Baniyas's maintenance was already postponed. It operated
00:25:0099 shutdowns during the revolution. I mean,
00:25:04a facility and restart it, and to stop a facility that has deteriorated significantly.
00:25:08It did not undergo rehabilitation. There were sanctions,
00:25:10and the regime did not carry out rehabilitation.
00:25:14for the refinery. It is working, The Syrian Petroleum Company, meaning
00:25:18its budget is not an investment, it is part of
00:25:20the Syrian Company's budget. Also, we were asked about the Kirkuk-Baniyas pipeline.
00:25:24This line is an old line, its capacity
00:25:27is very low, meaning its capacity is very low,
00:25:31and it is dilapidated, for cathodic protection. It hasn't been working for a long time, since the days of the Iraq war. The pipeline
00:25:34stopped. The pipeline is dilapidated. We conducted a technical study
00:25:38for it. It needs to be replaced completely. Companies entered and signed a
00:25:42memorandum of understanding with the Iraqi government, and we signed a memorandum of
00:25:45understanding with them. The alliance of companies. Actually, this is the first step
00:25:48from Iraq, because we are a transit country. If we did it from our side,
00:25:51and the oil did not come to us from there, what is the benefit of building this pipeline?
00:25:57Iraq, and the Prime Minister, a while ago, about a week ago, I read
00:26:01a statement from him directing the companies to accelerate the implementation of this pipeline. And God willing,
00:26:04once they start signing the contracts, because these are memorandums of understanding, official
00:26:08contracts, we will immediately be one of the parties to these contracts with these
00:26:11companies. This is also one of the reasons why
00:26:15we did not go towards a tender for this pipeline, because it is essentially an alliance of companies that will
00:26:18start from Kirkuk, okay, to Baniyas. So it's the same companies
00:26:22that will implement it, because we are a transit country, meaning we will take
00:26:26transit fees. We might put some conditions that allow us to have
00:26:31pipeline, and the workforce and stations, and so on.
00:26:34Okay, restoration of strategic pipelines and facilities. We have restored, of course, our people
00:26:38in Baniyas and Homs refineries several times.
00:26:41We rehabilitated them after they were out of service in many stages.
00:26:45We operated main pumping units in
00:26:48pipes. Some details we might not dwell on much. We might
00:26:51send them to you so you can review them. Restoration of the heavy oil pipeline. We were asked
00:26:55about it. May God bless the honorable representative who asked about it. This is very important
00:26:58because the issue of oil transportation by tanker, this
00:27:02is not healthy. First, because of the corruption that will occur through transportation and theft,
00:27:08oil from the tanker and filling it with water instead, part of it, ten barrels, and so
00:27:11on. In addition to the issue
00:27:14of traffic congestion on the roads, in addition to the issue, meaning
00:27:17the effect on the road itself, its technical condition will be affected. Therefore, it is something
00:27:21unhealthy. We have the heavy oil pipeline. This pipeline has
00:27:25more than 1400 encroachments on it, meaning they used to take
00:27:28oil from it. We removed these encroachments. We completed 80%
00:27:32of it. Maintenance and rehabilitation, God willing. Meaning,
00:27:36during under ideal conditions,
00:27:40ideal conditions, because last time we were saying it should be working with us by the end
00:27:42of September. This pipeline, but
00:27:46we found an area with mines. By the time we contacted the concerned authorities
00:27:49to remove the mines for rehabilitation, you encounter challenges
00:27:52that you sometimes don't account for. Okay, you pumped, pressured the pipeline,
00:27:56and went to inspect it, but you find one mine. The safety
00:27:59of workers is a priority. So you need to form teams from the Ministry of Defense
00:28:03or the Ministry of Emergency Affairs to remove the mines, and this takes time. We were delayed
00:28:07an additional 10-15 days due to something we had not anticipated. Therefore,
00:28:10God willing, it will be in service within a few weeks, Your Excellency the Minister.
00:28:14If it takes long, we might divide the session, because you
00:28:18took three-quarters of an hour. If we prolong the second
00:28:21intervention in the second part, until we see, until
00:28:25there is more focus on information. Okay. Can you allow us
00:28:28to just cover the oil file? We can postpone electricity and water, if you allow, Mr. President. Okay.
00:28:45So that the members are paying attention as they should, because now
00:28:49it's been an hour of talking, meaning one can get distracted, meaning
00:28:52a scientific case, meaning we will summarize, God willing, the remaining part of the oil section, God willing,
00:28:56and then postpone electricity and water. Mineral resources, which are
00:29:00the most complex and difficult, are the issue of derivatives. Fuel depots
00:29:03and storage capacities. Our active depots are
00:29:05in Homs.
00:29:08About 10,200 cubic meters of diesel. Of course, the condition
00:29:11of the tanks is very good. We sent a delegation a while ago to Korea.
00:29:15They reminded us there. A Korean company came and said that they have ready tanks, because
00:29:19building tanks may take from one to one and a half years. They said they have ready tanks
00:29:22that can be directly transported and installed. So they went to inspect these tanks
00:29:26and study their technical condition. God willing, once they send us the report,
00:29:30they were in Korea in the past few days. Once they send us the technical
00:29:34condition, we might approve and purchase them directly. There are underground tanks in Deir
00:29:37ez-Zor, Jamal. The active capacities
00:29:43gasoline. Storage and enhancing supply security. We were also asked about this by the committee,
00:29:47thankfully. We have strived from the beginning
00:29:50to secure a reserve, but all our depots, and you all know it, each one
00:29:54from his governorate knows many of the depots. The best depots we have
00:29:57are in Homs, somewhat. Some depots are holding up a bit,
00:30:00acceptable. And we have some in Adra. And the rest of the depots in the Aleppo countryside,
00:30:04in Khan Tuman, also in Khan
00:30:07al-Assal, in al-Ramouseh, all
00:30:10well. The depots in Idlib, which were in Kafr Batikh, also
00:30:14completely destroyed. They cannot be used.
00:30:17Many tanks and depots need to be rebuilt
00:30:20and rehabilitated. We have started rehabilitating part of them,
00:30:24part of them, but the investment budgets, as we mentioned, cannot
00:30:27cover everything. Today we have priorities. In the order of priorities, they tell us
00:30:31the Ministry of Finance, stop revenues to the treasury for
00:30:34a year. We'll restart everything.
00:30:37But if the Ministry of Finance is asking us to raise
00:30:40salaries and wages, and we have investment projects, and you are a very
00:30:43large part of these things as a petroleum company,
00:30:47they don't give us a single day's grace. In terms of financial transfers, as we mentioned, we used to give them
00:30:51250 million dollars every month, after
00:30:54we had oil, 250 million dollars. So all this
00:30:58contributed to increasing salaries and wages.