Turkey offers oil, gas and phosphate cooperation with Syria

Damascus, Syria. Turkey is ready to work with Damascus to search for oil and gas in Syria, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on Wednesday.

Bayraktar made the remarks at a joint press conference with Syrian Energy Minister Mohamed al-Bashir, during which the two sides also announced plans to expand electricity transmission capacity and cooperate on phosphate resources.

Oil and gas exploration

Turkish state oil company TPAO and private companies are ready to conduct seismic surveys and exploration drilling offshore and onshore in Syria, Bayraktar said.

Turkey operates a deep-sea drilling fleet and is drilling an exploration well off Somalia’s coast. TPAO has also secured a licence to explore for oil in Libyan offshore fields.

Electricity infrastructure

Turkey and Syria will commission new infrastructure within the coming weeks, tripling electricity transmission capacity to more than 800 megawatts, Bayraktar said.

Phosphate agreement

Turkey’s state-owned mining company MTA IC and Syria’s General Directorate for Mineral Sources signed a memorandum of understanding on phosphate resources during the visit, Turkey’s energy ministry said.

The agreement paves the way for a possible joint venture. Its initial aims include cooperation on phosphate rock production, long-term trading mechanisms and integrated industrial investments to produce phosphoric acid, fertilisers and other phosphate-based products.

Bayraktar said the agreement was the first step towards a large-scale project involving phosphate field development, industrial facilities and a railway connecting the production site to a seaport for transporting phosphate output.

“We aim to draw up a commercial agreement in the coming days,” he said.