Shell International decides to finish its business activites in Syria

The Dutch-British Shell company has taken a decisive decision to leave the Syrian market completely.

This withdrawal isn’t limited to the suspension of field work, but also extends to the start of legal and final liquidation procedures for all its investments, thus ending a long era of work in the Syrian oil and gas sector.

Behind closed doors at the Syrian Ministry of Energy, intensive meetings were held between officials from the company and Minister Mohammed al Bashir.

The meetings focused on developing a legal and financial roadmap for the exit process, especially since the Shell file is burdened with complex financial details.

It’s estimated that Shell’s debt on the Syrian side amounts to approximately $200 million.

These amounts date back to years ago, as the company was technically financing production in strategic fields such as Omar, Taim, Ward, and Tank, provided that it recovered its dues from the quotas of oil produced, which is the top issue of the current negotiations.

Shell’s withdrawal puts the future of its contracts (within the al Furat Oil Company in jeopardy, especially with the presence of international partners from China and India.

This reality presents several scenarios:

• Option to Assign: Will Shell’s stake go to existing partners (Chinese and Indian)?
• Termination of the collective contract: Will the partnership be terminated in full and return to the Syrian Petroleum Company?
• Entry of a new player: Is the government looking for an alternative global operator to take over these oil blocks?

Although Shell has effectively suspended operations since 2012 in compliance with European sanctions, it has maintained a thin legal thread in the hope of returning.

However, it seems that technical and geographical factors have decided the decision, as most of its fields – especially the Omar field – are currently outside the government’s control, making the resumption of activity out of reach in the foreseeable future.

Numbers and politics aside, industry experts see Shell’s departure as a loss of a long-standing vocational school.

Over the decades, the company has contributed to refining the skills of thousands of Syrian cadres, imposing international standards in safety, management and quality, experiences that will remain a clear imprint in the careers of engineers and technicians who graduated from its field academy.