Rojava gas ‘significantly’ improving Syria’s electricity production: Minister

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Syria’s Electricity Minister Omar Shaqrouq on Wednesday said the country’s power supply has seen a “significant improvement” following the delivery of one million cubic meters of gas from Kurdish-controlled fields in northeast Syria (Rojava).

The interim government in Damascus in early February began receiving around one million cubic meters of natural gas and 15,000 barrels of oil daily from Rojava.

Speaking to Rudaw’s Dilkhwaz Mohammed, Shaqrouq said that the delivery of “one million cubic meters [of gas]” has allowed "important strategic points, especially the [power] plants, [to be] replenished,” he said.

He further anticipated that once additional gas is pumped and delivered to the Homs and Baniyas refineries, west of the country, there will be further “significant improvement in daily [electricity] supply hours, potentially extending to more than 12 hours, if the quantities we need are supplied."

In the oil dossier, the Syrian electricity minister said that Damascus and Rojava are engaging in talks over oil cooperation and that “a final formula has yet to be reached in that regard.”

The Syrian oil ministry had in early February stated that prior to the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Damascus produced around 385,000 barrels of oil per day. However, it emphasized that there is “no accurate data” on Syria’s current daily oil production, as the Syrian government “lacks control over all oil fields” distributed throughout the country.

Later in the same month, Ahmad Sulaiman, the head of the Syrian oil ministry’s public relations office, said that Damascus began receiving more than 15,000 barrels of oil daily from Rojava.

In early March, Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) chief Mazloum Abdi signed a landmark deal, agreeing to “integrate all civil and military institutions” in Rojava under the Damascus administration, “including border crossings, the [Qamishli International] Airport, and oil and gas fields.”

The Kurdish-led administration of northern Syria controls a third of the country, including the oil fields of Hasaka and Deir ez-Zor.