Egypt to export gas and petroleum products to Syria

Damascus focuses on rebuilding energy infrastructure broken by years of civil war

Workers fixing transformers near Damascus. To generate power, Syria will start using Egypt’s existing infrastructure, such as floating regasification units. Reuters

Egypt has agreed to export natural gas and petroleum products to Syria, adding to a series of regional energy commitments that contrast with its own tightening gas balance and rising domestic demand.

Damascus seeks to rebuild an economy shattered by more than a decade of civil war. Energy officials from Egypt and Syria signed two preliminary agreements during talks in Cairo to deepen co-operation in gas and petroleum supplies, state news agency Wam reported on Monday. The value and volumes involved were not disclosed.

One agreement covers the supply of natural gas to Syria for electricity generation, using Egypt’s existing infrastructure, including floating regasification units as well as transmission networks.

A second deal relates to the export of petroleum products to help Syria meet energy demand, and could extend to co-operation on rebuilding the country’s energy infrastructure, drawing on Egypt’s technical expertise.

Syria’s electricity system has been badly damaged by nearly 14 years of civil war, leaving much of the national grid damaged, with power plants operating well below capacity and chronic fuel shortages that have forced widespread rationing and prolonged power cuts.

Energy officials from Egypt and Syria sign an initial agreement to boost co-operation in the sector. Wam

More than 70 per cent of power plants and transmission lines have sustained significant damage, and the national grid capacity has diminished by more than 75 per cent, leaving many Syrians without reliable electricity, a UN Development Programme report found last year.

Syria is boosting energy co-operation to rebuild its infrastructure and meet requirements. Last May, Turkey said it would provide two billion cubic metres of natural gas annually for electricity generation.

Turkey's gas exports to Syria will contribute to an additional 1,300 megawatts of electricity production in the country, but Ankara aims to triple electricity exports to Syria up to 1,000MW in the coming months, Turkey's Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said at the time.

Meanwhile, a consortium from Qatar, US and Turkey is building solar and natural-gas power plants in Syria, with investment of $7 billion.

Dana Gas, one of the largest private natural-gas companies in the Middle East, signed an initial agreement with the Syrian Petroleum Company to explore redevelopment and expansion of natural gasfields in central Syria.

For Egypt, the latest deal with Syria adds to a growing list of preliminary agreements signed in recent months to lock in future gas output across the Eastern Mediterranean. These include pacts with Cyprus and Lebanon, despite Egypt producing just enough gas to meet domestic consumption and increasingly relying on imports to plug seasonal shortfalls.

That tension was underscored weeks ago when Egypt signed a politically sensitive $35bn agreement to buy Israeli gas, locking in long-term supplies even as it positions itself as a regional energy hub and exporter.

Egypt, an important gas producer in the Eastern Mediterranean, has experienced a domestic production decline in recent years, despite big discoveries such as the Zohr gasfield.

It also signed an agreement with Qatar to increase liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies and expand energy co-operation. As part of the deal, Cairo is expected to receive 24 LNG deliveries through the summer, when energy demand typically peaks.