Syria Says Oil Reserves Good for At Least 20 Years
DAMASCUS, Sep 3 (AFP) - Syrian Oil Minister Maher Jamal has denied suggestions that the country's oil production will end in 2010, saying ‘stable production’ will continue until 2020.
"Syrian oil reserves stand at 23 billion barrels, of which three billion have already been extracted," Jamal was quoted in the government daily Tishrin as saying.
Saying he was "optimistic" about the recoverable reserves situation, the minister characterised as "not correct and without foundation" suggestions that oil production would end in 2010.
Given the quality of some of the reserves and existing technology, Jamal said "stable production will be possible until 2020," after which levels of production will depend on technical and other factors then applying.
Syria has a current output of about 600,000 bpd, produced by three groups. Al-Furat Petroleum Co, a joint venture between Syrian Petroleum Co (SPC) and the Royal Dutch/Shell group, produces 390,000 bpd. SPC itself produces 145,000 bpd and Dayr ez-Zawr Petroleum Co, owned by SPC and France's Elf Aquitaine produces 60,000 bpd.
Of total production, Syria exports 320,000 bpd, as well as 12.5 million cubic meters (437.5 million cubic feet) of natural gas.
The minister said the country plans to construct two refineries - at Dayr ez-Zawr in the north-east and one on the Mediterranean coast. These will be in addition to refineries at Homs, in the centre of the country and Baniyas, on the coast.
He also said natural gas production will reach 24 million cubic meters (840 million cubic feet) a day in 2020. He added that gas deposits discovered in the past four years alone represent 35 per cent of all reserves ever identified in the country. |
