Syria Palmyride Foldbelt exploration basin

The Syria Palmyride Foldbelt extends east from the Lebanese border across central Syria. The northeast sector of the basin contains several onstream oil fields, but exploration in central and southern areas has produced material gas discoveries. Since 2001, Syria has held international licensing rounds but unrest in the country, eventually leading to civil war in 2011, impacted awards. International oil companies (IOC) called force majeure and left the country. The Syrian Petroleum Company (SPC) is operating the existing fields. Rounds of European sanctions on the energy sector in 2011 prohibits EU participation in joint ventures involving Syrian state companies and prevents new investment in exploration. In any case the the ongoing political, civil and military situation has effectively brought any further new exploration work to a halt for the immediate future. Because of this we have excluded an Outlook analysis.