Iran finishes studies to establish new oil refinery in Syria: Official

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
27 Sep 2023 21:04
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Iran confirms it is set to build a refinery in Syria with a capacity of 140,000 barrels per day.

The Baniyas refinery, on October 11, 2020 (Baniyas Refinery Company)

An Iranian official pointed out that Iran plans to develop a new oil refinery in Syria with a capacity of 140,000 barrels per day, based on a tripartite memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Syria and Venezuela.

"The studies that were conducted found that Syria and its neighboring countries are in need of petroleum products, therefore a refinery with a capacity of 140,000 barrels was identified next to the two existing Syrian refineries of Homs and Banias," the managing director of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC) Jalil Salari confirmed as quoted by Fars news agency.

Salari noted that the Homs refinery, which has a capacity of 110,000 barrels, was restored by Iranian engineers during Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's recent visit to Syria in May, following which a team from the National Iranian Oil Company was dispatched to perform the required studies.

According to the Iranian official, after completing these improvements, Iran will be able to export 100,000 barrels of oil per day to Syria.

He further indicated that projects of this nature help to increase the export of technical and engineering services while also creating revenue for Iranian technology firms.

"We have appointed a director to supervise the basic repair works of the Homs refinery, and after completing the studies, we will soon enter the contract signing and operation phase," Salari pointed out.

On July 8, Iranian Ambassador to Syria Hossein Akbari expressed Iran's readiness to cooperate in the fields of oil and energy with Syria.

It is noteworthy that Syria and Iran signed eight cooperation agreements and a memorandum for long-term strategic cooperation, during talks between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi in Damascus.

This comes as the US occupation forces in Syria continue to violate Syrian sovereignty and loot the country's oil.

In a formal communication addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the President of the Security Council, the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates indicated that the US, along with its proxies in the form of terrorist organizations and militias, continue to violate Syrian sovereignty and exploit the nation's wealth and strategic resources.

According to the Ministry, the cumulative damage inflicted on Syria's oil and mineral wealth sector as a result of aggressive acts, looting, and sabotage carried out by US forces and their associated groups amounts to a staggering $115.2 billion. This damage has been accrued over the period from 2011 up to the first half of 2023.