Syria’s sanctions era comes to an end as UAE + IOCs eye more investments

EU brings Syria in from the cold: EU members no longer face restrictions on the “imports of certain Syrian products, including oil, petroleum products, gold, precious metals and diamonds,” after the Council of the EU voted to fully reactivate its cooperation with Syria after a 15-year hiatus. The vote puts to rest the last relic of Europe’s sanctions regime against Syria, which began in 2011 in response to grave human rights violations believed to be perpetuated by the now-ousted Bashar Al Assad regime.

This is the latest in a series of moves derisking the Syrian market for foreign players and investors to do business there and support reconstruction efforts. However, even as the US and EU scrap sanctions against Damascus, there remain some key risks and market friction standing in the way of the revived business interest in the country. Compliance and lack of access to reliable banking still prevent many interested players from committing to Syria, as we previously reported here.

What to watch for: Whether the official end of sanctions will be enough to encourage European companies — which have generally been avoiding committing to Syria, as we previously reported — to begin earmarking capital for the country. So far, the playing field in Syria has been crowded by Turkish, Qatari, Emirati, and Saudi players. Some American companies are also recently getting in on the game (more on this below).

Case in point: The UAE is doubling down on investments in Syria, with the two countries inkingdozens of agreements spanning infrastructure, tourism, construction, and logistics at the Syria-UAE Investment Forum this week.

Freezones could be the focus of the next batch of Emirati investments in Syria as part of a wider push led by the private sector, UAE’s Trade Minister Thani Al-Zeyoudi is quoted as saying. This could be another area of Turkey-UAE business competition — up until this remark, only Turkish players have shown serious interest in developing Syria’s freezones and industrial areas since Assad was ousted in late 2024.

Remember: The Emiratis were among the first to rush to the Syrian market, securing a foothold in the country’s ports infrastructure after DP World’s announced a Tartus port concession last July, and AD Ports secured a Latakia port concession back in November. And most recently, real estate moguls like Al Habtoor and Al Abbar are considering whether to press ahead with USD multi-bns real estate and tourism projects in the country.

More IOCs want in

Oil and gas majors TotalEnergies, ConocoPhillips, and QatarEnergy will begin a technical review of an offshore area (Block 3) in a step that could precede signing an exploration agreement with the Syrian Petroleum Corporation (SPC). The trio already signed an MoU for the technical review, which the SPC said “stipulates that [they] will conduct the necessary technical studies, develop a work program, and draft an exploration contract, paving the way for a transition to advanced implementation phases in offshore exploration activities.”

Chevron and Power International Holding are already ahead: Chevron and Qatar-based PIH — which signed a similar MoU for an offshore technical review in February — could be moving onto exploration activities as soon as this summer after the SPC announced a site had been identified for exploration to begin, Reuters reports. The exact exploration block was not disclosed.

Background: The new government is planning to offer up to five offshore blocks in the East Mediterranean basin for IOCs, meaning three more could be up for grabs soon, Mees previously reported.