AP

As ties warm, Syria to host a 2024 Arab energy conference

Dec 8, 2021, 4:18 PM | Updated: Dec 9, 2021, 9:50 am

FILE - Syrian workers fixing pipes of an oil well at an oil field controlled by a U.S-backed Kurdis...

FILE - Syrian workers fixing pipes of an oil well at an oil field controlled by a U.S-backed Kurdish group, in Rmeilan, Hassakeh province, Syria, March 27, 2018. Syria will host an Arab energy conference in 2024, the country's energy ministry said Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021, the latest sign that Arab countries are moving to re-engage with the government of Syria's embattled President Bashar Assad. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)

(AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria will host an Arab energy conference in 2024, the country’s energy ministry said Thursday, the latest sign that Arab countries are moving to re-engage with the government of Syria’s embattled President Bashar Assad.

The announcement followed a unanimous vote from members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries during a virtual meeting Thursday, the ministry said. The conference will be held in Damascus, according to a ministry statement on Facebook and the official state news agency SANA. Qatar is hosting the 2023 conference.

Arab countries have in recent months been making limited moves to improve relations with Syria, a decade after it was shunned and kicked out of the Arab League at the onset of the country’s civil war in 2011.

The rapprochement has included the reopening of several embassies, visits by Arab officials to Damascus and restoring some commercial ties with the war-torn country. The moves are a recognition of the facts on the ground — after years of war and despite the initial support by some Arab countries to his opposition, Assad’s government has survived and his forces have regained control of much of the country.

Syria’s civil war has displaced half of its population, killed hundreds of thousands and driven the country’s economy into the ground.

Before the war, Syria produced 350,000 barrels of oil a day, exporting more than half of it. It now averages around 24,000 barrels a day, covering only a fraction of domestic needs. Most of its oil fields are in the hands of Kurdish-led forces, who administer an autonomous region in the country’s northeast. Assad’s government has relied on a top ally, Iran, for oil supplies.

In recent weeks, a deal was signed with Egypt to extend natural gas through Syria to Lebanon using an Arab oil pipeline that has been out of service for a decade.

OAPEC was founded in Beirut in 1968 with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Libya as its first members. Its headquarters are in Kuwait. Algeria, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain joined three years later. The organization’s charter was later changed to allow members where petroleum is an essential source of income, though not the main one. Syria and Egypt also subsequently joined the group.

The organization’s website says the total reserves of the member states are estimated at 704 billion barrels a year.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP

Image: A cargo ship is stuck under the part of the structure of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after ...

Associated Press

Authorities identify 2 bodies recovered at site of Baltimore bridge collapse

A major bridge in Baltimore snapped and collapsed after a container ship rammed into it early Tuesday, and several vehicles fell into the river below.

1 day ago

Photo: Mountaineer Jim Whittaker has died at 95....

Gene Johnson, The Associated Press

Lou Whittaker, among the most famous American mountaineers, has died at age 95

Lou Whittaker, a legendary American mountaineer who helped lead ascents of Mount Everest, K2 and Denali, has died at age 95.

1 day ago

File photo: Former Sen. Joe Lieberman speaks in Washington on Jan. 18, 2024....

Associated Press

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, Democrats’ VP pick in 2000, dead at 82

Former U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who nearly won the vice presidency on the Democratic ticket with Al Gore in 2000, has died.

1 day ago

islamic state attack...

Vanessa Gera, The Associated Press

What we know after the Islamic State group claims responsibility for Moscow massacre

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for an attack on a suburban Moscow concert hall that killed at least 133 people.

5 days ago

Moscow shooting...

The Associated Press

Russia: 60 dead, 145 injured in concert hall raid; Islamic State group claims responsibility

Assailants burst into a concert hall in Moscow on Friday and sprayed the crowd with gunfire, killing over 60 people, injuring more than 100.

7 days ago

Photo: Britain's Kate, Duchess of Cambridge visits 282 (East Ham) Squadron, RAF Air Cadets, Cornwel...

Associated Press

Kate Middleton announces she has cancer, is undergoing chemotherapy

Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales, says she is undergoing chemotherapy to treat cancer. She has been out of view since Christmas.

7 days ago

As ties warm, Syria to host a 2024 Arab energy conference