Saudi Arabia to supply Syria with 1.65 million barrels of crude to aid civil war recovery

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Saudi Arabia said Thursday it will supply Syria with 1.65 million barrels of crude as Damascus struggles to rebuild the country’s economy and infrastructure after a nearly 14-year civil war.

The state-run Saudi Press Agency announced that the CEO of the Saudi Fund for Development, Sultan Al-Marshad, and Syria’s Minister of Energy Mohammad al-Bashir had signed a memorandum of understanding.

The Saudi “grant aims to enhance the operations of Syrian refineries” and reflects the kingdom’s “continued efforts to improve the living conditions of the brotherly Syrian people,” the announcement said.

Syria was once an oil exporter able to meet its own energy needs but has faced an economic collapse due to war and sanctions. The civil war that erupted in 2011 has killed nearly half a million people, displaced half the country’s prewar population of 23 million, and decimated its infrastructure. Stringent Western sanctions have exacerbated the crisis.

The civil war ended last December with the fall of former President Bashar Assad in a lightning rebel offensive, and since then, investors have flocked back to the country including in the energy sector. Earlier this month, Syrian officials announced that the country had exported 600,000 barrels of oil from the coastal city of Tartous.

However, little has changed on the ground. Syrians who are unable to afford generators or solar panels live with only a few hours of electricity a day.