Production-Sharing Terms
A 25-year investment contract signed in early June 2026 hands the U.S. company HKN the development and operation of the Rmeilan oil fields in Hasakah province, northeastern Syria. Under the agreement, production is divided three ways.
The company receives 60 percent of output, Syria's state oil firm takes 32 percent, and a local oil-services company holds the remaining 8 percent.
Fields Still Under Local Control
Despite the new contract, day-to-day management of the fields remains in the hands of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces for now, according to a source at the Rmeilan fields.
The 8 percent stake belongs to a services company tied to the region's autonomous administration and overseen by an official who has handled oil marketing in the northeast since his predecessor stepped aside after 2017.
Merging Oil Institutions
The arrangement coincides with efforts to integrate oil bodies controlled by the central government and the autonomous administration. On 15 June 2026, a meeting at the Hasakah governorate building brought together the head of the state fuel storage and distribution company and a delegation handling fuel for the administration.
Officials discussed steps to complete the merger of institutions and to reactivate the state distributor's local branch. A separate government delegation had visited the Rmeilan directorate on 9 February 2026.
Contested Output Estimates
Estimates of how much the northeast produces vary widely. One 2024 figure put daily output at no less than 150,000 barrels, while an earlier 2023 estimate cited roughly 80,000 barrels per day.
The same 2024 estimate valued annual revenue at more than $2.5 billion (USD). No independently published data exist to confirm these figures.
Why It Matters
Oil remains the most important economic resource in northeastern Syria, and control over its revenue carries heavy political and financial weight. The terms of any new arrangement at Rmeilan, and how integration with regional forces unfolds, will shape management of one of the country's key fields.