Azerbaijan, Baku, May 2 /Trend A.Taghiyeva/
After the sanctions imposed against Syria's oil sector, the country has been forced to cut oil production and close several wells. A total of $3 billion has been lost as a result, Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Sufian Allaw said, the Iqtisadia newspaper reported on Wednesday.
According to Allaw, the country produced 380,000 barrels of oil per day before the sanction, 150,000 barrels of which were sent for export.
"At the same time, Syria does not cease working on exploration of new oil and gas fields, using local labor and domestic investment," Allaw said.
The minister also said a shortage of natural gas is observed currently in Syria. Thus, the country plans to increase gas imports by 50 percent, Allaw said, without naming the country from which gas supplies will be increased.
There are a number of economic sanctions of the EU on Syria. According to experts, Syria's foreign exchange reserves, which amounted to $ 17 billion before the imposition of sanctions cut in half. In addition, the sanctions have caused serious damage to Syria's oil industry, since 90 percent of the oil was sold to the EU.
The sanctions involve a ban on the export of raw materials. Damascus
is trying to find new buyers, however, the negotiations have not
yielded any results.
Syria has been covered by anti-government speeches for more than year
resulting in violent clashes. According to UN figures, the total
number of victims in the country exceeds 10,000.