Russia boosts Arctic oil supplies to Syria
Shipping data from an oil industry source and the London Stock Exchange Group revealed on Friday that Russia has increased its oil supplies from the Arctic to Syria, which needs crude to power its refineries.
According to the source and the London Stock Exchange Group, the US-sanctioned oil tanker loaded approximately 140,000 tons of Russian oil at the Arctic port of Murmansk and is headed to the Syrian port of Baniyas, which has already received several shipments of this oil.
Data from the London Stock Exchange Group and traders showed that the tankers Sakina and Aquatica shipped oil from Russia to Syria in March, followed by the Sabina last month.
Total Russian oil supplies to Syria have reached approximately 350,000 tons, or about 2.6 million barrels, since the beginning of the year.
Data also shows that Moscow has supplied Damascus with diesel this year.
Russia has been looking for other buyers for its Arctic oil since US sanctions imposed in January impacted producer Gazprom Neft and the tankers that transport the crude.
Syrian refineries will need alternatives to Iranian oil, which constituted a significant portion of supplies during Assad’s regime before being suspended in late 2024, leading to the temporary closure of the Baniyas refinery in December.
This coincides with the Syrian Oil Ministry’s announcement that operations at the refinery would resume in April, following the receipt of new oil shipments.
However, the ministry also stated that it was conducting technical repairs at the site, without specifying the refinery’s current operating capacity.
Qatari holding company UrbaCon said in a statement on Thursday that Syria had signed a memorandum of understanding with a consortium of international companies led by it to develop major electricity generation projects with foreign investments totaling approximately $7 billion.
The memorandum includes the construction of four combined-cycle gas-fired power plants with a total capacity of 4,000 megawatts, in addition to a 1,000-megawatt solar power plant in southern Syria.
