Turkey's state oil company and private firms will begin seismic surveys and exploration in Syria, the Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said, as Syria seeks to attract foreign capital to its battered energy sector.
Turkiye Petrolleri AO (TPAO) has the capacity to start work "immediately" on onshore and offshore blocks, Mr Bayraktar said at a joint press conference in Damascus on Wednesday. He signed several energy agreements with his Syrian counterpart Mohamed Al Bashir.
The deals demonstrate Ankara's ambition to become a leading partner in Syria's reconstruction, building on its close ties with the government that replaced Bashar Al Assad. Turkish officials have engaged more extensively with Damascus than any other foreign government since Mr Al Assad was deposed in December 2024. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has cultivated close ties with the country's new President, Ahmad Al Shara, positioning Ankara as the dominant foreign player in Syria's economic and political transition.
The announcement adds Syria to a growing list of frontiers for Turkey's state oil driller, which is developing an exploration well off the coast of Somalia. TPAO also won a licence for offshore blocks in Libya earlier this year. Ankara has built up a deep-sea drilling fleet as it seeks to secure energy resources overseas.
Syria was once a significant oil and gas producer in the eastern Mediterranean, according to the US Energy Information Administration, before 14 years of civil war gutted the industry. Output has collapsed by about 80 per cent from a prewar peak of 380,000 barrels a day.
Crude production reached 14.8 million barrels in the first half of 2026, equivalent to about 82,000 barrels a day, the Syrian Energy Ministry said on Tuesday, according to the state-run Sana news agency. The government has said it needs more than $30 billion to rehabilitate the sector, creating a potentially significant opportunity for foreign energy companies.
Gulf energy companies are also exploring opportunities in Syria. The Abu Dhabi-listed Adnoc Drilling highlighted Syria as a growth market alongside Egypt and Iraq. Damascus has also secured an agreement with ConocoPhillips in partnership with Novaterra, a venture linked to the Syrian-British billionaire Ayman Al Asfari. It also reached a deal with the UAE's Dana Gas following the lifting of US sanctions late last year.
Gulf states pledged $28 billion in investment across the Syrian economy in 2025 alone. Turkey and Syria will also commission new infrastructure over the coming weeks that will triple electricity transmission capacity between the two countries to more than 800 megawatts, Mr Bayraktar said.
Separately, Turkey's state mining company MTA and Syria's general directorate of mineral resources signed a non-binding agreement on phosphate resources. The deal could lead to a potential joint venture, the Turkish Energy Ministry said.
The push for foreign investment comes as Syria's domestic energy sector shows early signs of recovery. The country produced 1.429 billion cubic metres of raw natural gas, 3.5 million tonnes of petroleum products, 1.252 billion cubic metres of clean natural gas and 35,500 tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas in the first half of 2026, the Energy Ministry said.
The ministry said 152 wells were returned to production and 10 new wells brought online, while 21 others were repaired. The Amrit offshore rig resumed operations, and a main pumping station in Homs restarted after 12 years of inactivity. Syria's Dabousiya gas station has also been prepared to resume gas transfers to Lebanon, the ministry said.
Syria has signed seven preliminary agreements and three contracts with international companies during the first half of this year, the ministry said. It did not name the companies involved.
