Syria Kurds resume oil deliveries to govt-held areas: Ministry official - Region

Al-Ahram Weekly

23-02-2025

Kurdish-led authorities in northeastern Syria have resumed oil deliveries to government-held areas for the first time since Bashar al-Assad's overthrow, an oil ministry official said on Saturday.
The contracts between the two sides were "adjusted to align with the interests of the Syrian people and exports resumed" a couple of days ago, ministry official Ahmed Suleiman told AFP.
He said the contracts signed under Assad's rule had been "very unfair", without elaborating on the details.
He said the deal involved 150,000 barrels of crude and one million cubic metres of gas per day.
Later Saturday, he told the official SANA news agency the new contracts were valid "for a period of three months initially".
Contacted by AFP, Kurdish officials declined to comment.
The Kurdish authorities control much of the oil-rich northeast, where they have enjoyed de facto autonomy since the early 2010s.
Syria's new rulers, who are close to Ankara, have urged all armed groups including the Kurdish administration's de facto army, the Syrian Democratic Forces, to hand over their weapons and have rejected Kurdish autonomy.
Turkish-backed groups have been attacking SDF positions in northern Syria since November with no sign of any let-up.
The US-backed SDF spearheaded the military campaign that ousted Islamic State group from their last territory in Syria in 2019.
But Turkey accuses its main component, the People's Protection Units (YPG), of being affiliated with the outlawed PKK, which has waged a four-decade insurgency against the Turkish state.
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