Talks at the Ministry
Syria's finance minister, Mohammed Yusr Barnieh, met representatives of the US energy company ConocoPhillips at the ministry in Damascus on 29 October 2026, in a session that also brought in the Syrian businessman Ayman al-Asfari, who chairs the board of Novatera Energy.
The meeting focused on investment opportunities in Syria, with particular attention to natural gas and to strategic energy projects the government wants to see move forward.
Raising Domestic Output
The participants discussed accelerating the development of natural gas and raising domestic production, a step meant to reduce the country's dependence on imported fuel and to lower the costs that come with it.
They also went over the financial and legal requirements attached to large energy projects, which the two sides treated as a condition for bringing bigger investments into the sector.
Sovereign Guarantees Offered
The minister said the ministry is willing to consider sovereign guarantees for qualifying projects, within the existing legal and financial frameworks that govern such commitments.
He added that the ministry would work to speed up the administrative and legal procedures tied to these projects, signaling an effort to shorten the path from agreement to execution.
Budget and Financing
The talks covered a medium-term fiscal framework to be set out in the 2027 budget, along with improved management of the state's fiscal risks as larger commitments are weighed.
The two sides also discussed regional energy interconnection projects and the part that international banks and financial institutions could play in financing them.
Building on a June Contract
The meeting followed an agreement reached earlier in the year. On 16 June 2026, the Syrian Petroleum Company signed a contract with ConocoPhillips and Novatera to develop several gas fields and raise output from existing ones.
That contract was aimed at supporting gas supplies for electricity generation and for other vital sectors that depend on a steady flow of fuel.