Closure of Syrian Refineries Following Cut in Iranian Oil Exports

Media reports indicate the closure of Syria's largest oil refinery after the cessation of oil shipments from Iran, noting that the majority of Syria's oil imports came from Iran. According to a report by the Financial Times on Thursday, the 'Baniyas' refinery near the port of Baniyas in Syria has a daily production capacity of 130,000 barrels of petroleum derivatives and fuel, 90% of which was imported from Iran. With the fall of Bashar al-Assad, the flow of Iranian oil exports to Syria has ceased. This report comes after it was previously announced that following the fall of Bashar al-Assad's government, an Iranian oil tanker bound for Syria changed its course midway and returned. This report was also published by the marine analytics company 'Kpler', which stated that the tanker 'Lotus', carrying one million barrels of Iranian oil, changed its course towards the southern Red Sea before entering the Suez Canal on December 8. According to Kpler, this tanker, flying the flag of the Islamic Republic, had received Iranian oil from Khark Island in the Persian Gulf. Reports indicate that Iran has exported nearly 19 million barrels of crude oil to Syria in the past 11 months of this year. Following the cessation of this trend, Ibrahim Muslim, the director of the Baniyas refinery, told the Financial Times, 'Before the fall of Bashar al-Assad, 90% of the oil imported to Syria was from Iran. The entry of Iranian oil into the Baniyas refinery has stopped.' Ibrahim Muslim stated that members of the new Syrian government informed him that they expect sanctions on Syria to be lifted so that the country can import oil from other countries besides Iran. The group 'Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham' is recognized as a terrorist organization by the US, EU, and the UN. Despite this designation, Western governments have begun to engage with Tahrir al-Sham and have stated that they will decide based on the actions of the current Syrian rulers regarding the removal or retention of this organization from the terrorist list. The Russian news site 'RT' reported that according to Iranian media, Iran was exporting about 60,000 barrels of oil per day at a price of $50 per barrel to Syria, amounting to one billion dollars annually. Reports indicate that Iranian oil exports to Syria from 2011 to 2024 total approximately 14 billion dollars.