by Bloomberg|Sara Gharaibeh| Qatar began supplying natural gas to Syria through Jordan, the latest boost to the war-torn country’s interim government following the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad.
Syrian state-run news agency Sana said the Arab Gas Pipeline will send about 2 million cubic meters a day, eventually contributing 400 megawatts to the power grid. Reuters reported earlier that Washington approved the supplies without providing numbers.
The contract signals further recognition for the government of Ahmed Al-Sharaa, who led the battle to overthrow Assad. It should help increase the average power supply for Syrians to four hours a day, up from two, helping ease severe energy shortages.
The UK removed the Syrian central bank and 23 other entities, mainly lenders and energy companies, from a list of sanctioned institutions earlier this month, following similar moves by several Western countries.
Natural gas supplies through the Arab Gas Pipeline to Syria, and by extension to Lebanon, have been disrupted since 2011 due to the war and have been largely inactive since then.
The exact mechanism by which Qatar will transport the gas to Syria and reactivate that section of the pipeline is unclear, as years of conflict have damaged vital energy infrastructure. Plus, the only LNG storage facility in Jordan, a vessel off the Red Sea port city of Aqaba, will be leased to Egypt for 10 years starting mid-2025.
The power supply hinges on raising the production capacity of Syria’s Deir Ali power station, state-run Qatar News Agency said. This supply level is the “first phase” of a deal signed between Qatar Fund for Development and the Jordanian Ministry of Energy, in cooperation with the United Nations Development Program, which will oversee the “executive aspects of the project”.
Syria’s interim government is seeking to replace oil imports from Assad’s main backer Iran, which stopped when he fled the country in December.
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