India’s ONGC ready to restart operations in Syria if 'normality' returns

India’s ONGC Group is ready to restart operations in Syria if its investment climate improves and proper governance is established, according to a senior executive.

ONGC, through its subsidiary ONGC Videsh, was producing about 100,000 barrels of oil per day in Syria before civil war broke out in the country in 2011, Arun Kumar Singh, chairman and chief executive of ONGC Group told The National at Adipec on Wednesday.

“It’s a producing field which we have abandoned because of the issue [civil war]. If the environment comes backs to normality, with the government in control, we will go back,” he said.

The company was involved in the exploration of Block 24 oilfield in Eastern Syria after acquiring the asset in 2004 as well as another asset, according to its website.

“The regime which got control of that place have damaged the field,” he said.

Like other companies, ONGC declared force majeure and left the country 14 years ago.

When asked whether the company is holding negotiations with the current government to go back, he said “let’s see what the government does”.

Syria is trying to revive its oil industry after former president Bashar Al Assad was ousted in December. The new government under President Ahmad Al Shara is inviting global companies to invest in the country.

In September, Syria announced the dispatch of the country's first official crude shipment in 14 years, signalling its return to the global energy market.

The 600,000 barrels of heavy crude set sail from the historic port of Tartus aboard the Nissos Christiana tanker, under a deal with B Serve Energy, according to a Reuters report.

Before the civil war, oil was a key pillar of Syria's economy. It accounted for up to 25 per cent of its gross domestic product, according to the International Monetary Fund, and about $3 billion in annual revenue.

But oil production took a nosedive by 2014, plummeting to about 25,000 bpd, according to a US Energy Information Association country analysis in 2015.

The sharp declines were driven by extensive damage to infrastructure, including to power grids and gas refineries, after ISIS took control of key oilfields and Syria lost its connection to global energy markets.

Western sanctions also halted most exports and crippled Syria's ability to import refined products. As a result, the country became heavily reliant on discounted or free oil from Iran. It imported about 60,000 bpd in the years immediately after 2011, according to the EIA.