Page 10 - MEOG Week 02 2023

MEOG POLICY & SECURITY MEOG

between the US Military and President Bashar gulfsands.com.”
Al-Assad’s government, which has managed to Highlighting Gulfsands’ Project Hope initi-
regain control of most of the country following ative which looks to cast light on the issue, Bell
its decade-long war. said: “It is immensely frustrating and disappoint-
ing that several influential countries appear to
Production purgatory turn a blind eye to this illicit production which
This week also marked six years since UK-based contravenes international law, sovereignty, inter-
Gulfsands learnt that its Block 26 fields – national sanctions and the principles of UNSCR
Yousefieh, Khurbet East and Al Khairat – in 2254, and denies the Syrian people from ben-
Al-Hasakah had been illegally brought back into efiting from their country’s national resource
production despite the company’s operations endowment to build self-sustainability and resil-
being under force-majeure. ience for the future.”
Writing on social media this week, the com- From the country’s proven reserves of 2.5bn
pany’s CEO, John Bell said: “We now know that barrels of oil and 241bn cubic metres of gas, oil
the perpetrators of this illicit production were, production was running at around 375,000-
and continue to be, entities affiliated with the 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) and gas at around
self-proclaimed Autonomous Administration of 35mn cubic metres per day before civil war
North and East Syria (AANES), Peoples Defence broke out in 2011.
Unit (YPG), SDF and Syrian Democratic Coun- The ministry said that during 2021, oil output
cil (SDC).” averaged 85,900 bpd, of which only 16,000 bpd
He added: “Since then, over 41mn barrels reached the country’s refineries, alleging that the
of oil have been stolen with a value of almost remainder was being “stolen by the US occupa-
$2.9bn (at $70 per barrel). These ongoing losses tion forces and their mercenaries from the occu-
continue to be monitored and measured at www. pied fields in the eastern region”.™

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 02 11•January•2023