Page 23 - MEOG Annual Review 2021

MEOG OCTOBER MEOG

Delta However, there are signs that DCE intends
DCE had signed a deal with the Syrian Demo- to remain in Syria, while Syrian Democratic
cratic Council and the Autonomous Adminis- Council co-president Ilham Ahmed suggested
tration for North and East Syria covering all the recently that the company’s licence may yet be
fields near Al Hasakah in the far north-east of the renewed.
country, including Block 26, which is licensed
to London-based Gulfsands Petroleum but has Conflicting interests
been under force-majeure for a decade. This appears unlikely, given Biden’s approach to
When the Delta deal was announced, it was date and reports from Kurdistan 24 that quoted
met with uproar locally and by the US’ political energy sector sources in the Syrian town of
opponents in Syria. The country’s Foreign Min- Qamishli as saying that Russian oil companies
istry released a statement saying it condemned have already been contracted to work in the area
“in the strongest terms the agreement signed covered by DCE’s contract.
between al-Qasd militia [Syrian Democratic Several US firms had previously sought to
Forces (SDF)] and an American oil company sign deals with the SDF for the Hasakah fields
to steal Syria’s oil under the sponsorship and and those in Deir Ezzor further south, only to
support of the American administration … stumble because of sanctions on business activ-
This agreement is null and void and has no legal ities in Syria.
basis.” Meanwhile, the Euphrates continues to be
Meanwhile, Iran, Russia and Turkey released used as a deconfliction line between the US
a joint statement in which the governments and Russian interests, with the former holding
“expressed their opposition to the illegal sei- positions to the east and the latter to the west. In
zure and transfer of Syria’s oil revenues […while 2019, the Syrian government awarded Blocks 7
condemning] the illegal oil deal between a US and 19 covering oilfields east of the Euphrates to
licensed company and the illegitimate entity as Russian company Mercury, which is owned by
part of its separatist agenda.” Earlier this year, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the paramili-
Syrian Oil Minister Bassam Tomeh said that US tary Wagner Group, though US influence in the
forces had taken control of around 90% of the area is believed to have prevented any progress
country’s oil assets. from being made.
Despite apparent support from the US gov- Fellow Russian firm Vilada was awarded
ernment and the 900 troops left in Syria to Block 23, which contains a gas field north of
“protect” the oil, DCE appears to have failed to Damascus, and it is worthy of note that Block
bring about change in the area, with refinery and 12, which lies in north of Raqqa, was awarded
truck operators telling the Daily Beast that they to directly to the Iranian government last year.
had not witnessed any increase in oil production Though not related to Russian state
from the fields covered by the company’s con- involvement in Syria, UK-domiciled and Rus-
tract. Meanwhile, they added, oil and products sian-owned Waterford Finance & Investment
continued to flow west into areas controlled by Ltd completed a deal in May to acquire a 52.45%
the government of Bashar al-Assad, rather than shareholding in Gulfsands, with a further
into Iraqi Kurdistan as DCE had planned. 31.49% owned by parties that Waterford was
It is not believed, though, that these failures deemed by UK regulators to have been working
brought about the non-renewal of the sanctions in concert with.
waiver, with administration sources telling var- With Syrian sources accusing Biden of try-
ious publications that the licence was seen as a ing to “keep Russia happy”, the likelihood of US
legacy Trump deal that Biden’s camp wanted to companies playing much of a role in developing
istance itself from. assets in the north-east of the country is slim.™

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