Syria and Russia sign natural gas contract
The Associated Press
Published: April 26, 2007
DAMASCUS, Syria: Syria and Russia signed a €160 million (US$218 million) contract Thursday to extract natural gas from Syrian soil, Syria's official news agency SANA reported.
The Russian Story Gas company contracted to build three natural gas plants in the central area of Homs, some 200 kilometers (124 miles) north of the capital, Damascus, SANA quoted Syrian oil minister Sufian Al-Allaw as saying. Construction will be completed in 20 months, and the plants will be capable of producing more than 3 million cubic meters of gas per day, he added.
Ali Abbas, head of the Syrian Company for Gas, signed the contract at the end of the meeting of the Syrian-Russian Economic Joint Committee, which was held in Damascus.
Al-Allaw praised the contract as an environmentally friendly way to meet increasing energy demand, according to SANA.
Syria's oil production has declined from 600,000 barrels per day in 2000 to some 360,000 in 2006, and Damascus is trying to compensate by relying more heavily on natural gas.
Syria and Russia sign natural gas contract
