Syria exports first post-war crude shipment to Italy

Syria makes first post-war crude shipment

Syria

DAMASCUS, September 16, 2025 – Syria has exported its first crude shipment in 14 years, with 640,000 barrels of heavy sour crude arriving at Italy’s Trieste port on Saturday, following an earlier partial discharge at Sardinia’s Sarroch terminal, S&P Global reported on Monday.

The crude was sold to trading firm B Serve Energy and loaded aboard the Nissos Christiana tanker at the port of Tartous on September 1, according to Syria’s energy ministry.

Around 200,000 barrels were discharged on September 10 at Sarroch Oil Terminal, operated by Saras, which runs Italy’s second-largest refinery with a 300,000 b/d capacity. The remaining cargo is now moored at the SIOT terminal in Trieste.

The deal marks Syria’s re-entry into global oil markets following the December 2024 fall of Bashar al-Assad and the July 2025 lifting of US sanctions, which had blocked energy exports since 2011.

“This shipment is the first official crude export in 14 years,” Riyad al-Joubasi, assistant director for oil and gas at Syria’s energy ministry, said. He confirmed the crude came from several Syrian fields but did not specify which.

Syria’s pre-war oil production reached 380,000-400,000 bopd and was mainly exported to Mediterranean markets. Crude production is now estimated at 80,000-100,000 bopd, limited by infrastructure damage and pipeline constraints.

Kurdish-led authorities in northeast Syria, who control most oilfields, began supplying oil to Damascus earlier this year, but relations have since soured over governance concerns.

Following the easing of sanctions, US-based firms are now developing a master plan to explore and extract Syrian oil and gas. Syria has also signed an USD 800-million MoU with DP World to develop and manage the Tartous terminal.

Vitol, owner of Saras, typically sources crude for the Sarroch refinery from Libya and Turkey. Russian imports to the facility ceased in August after an EU ban on seaborne crude.

Vitol is a global energy and commodities trader active in oil, gas, carbon and power markets. It owns refining, storage and distribution assets worldwide. Saras is a downstream energy company operating one of Europe’s largest refineries in Sarroch, Italy.

In Syria, B Serve Energy is the first known buyer of post-conflict crude exports, marking a key step in the country’s reintegration into global oil markets.