Syria attracts international firms to offshore acreage

Syria

DOHA, May 13, 2026 – TotalEnergies, QatarEnergy and ConocoPhillips have signed an MoU with the Syrian Petroleum Company to assess exploration opportunities in Block 3 offshore Syria, the companies announced on Tuesday.

The agreement, signed at QatarEnergy’s headquarters in Doha, covers a technical review of Block 3 in the Mediterranean Sea and establishes a framework for technical and commercial discussions on exploration activities. The block lies off the city of Latakia in the Levantine Basin, in water depths ranging from 100 to 1,700 metres.

“We are pleased to enter into this new partnership with the Syrian Petroleum Company with which we had a long and fruitful relationship from 1988 to 2011, and we look forward to co-operating with QatarEnergy and ConocoPhillips to assess Syrian offshore exploration opportunities in the Mediterranean Sea,” said Julien Pouget, senior vice-president of Middle East and North Africa Exploration and Production at TotalEnergies.

The move comes as Syria seeks to attract foreign partners to rebuild its energy industry and assess oil and gas potential in the Mediterranean Sea. It follows a similar agreement signed in February 2026 with Chevron and Qatar’s UCC Holding, which led to the selection of an offshore block for a deepwater exploration project.

Photo courtesy of QatarEnergy

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