The Australian BHP Billiton Petroleum Company recently announced its bid to develop gas fields in Syria’s eastern region of Palmyra. The company stated that it would contribute $400 million in investments to the project, reported the official Syrian newspaper Ath-Thawra. BHP will be competing against France’s TotalFinalElf and the American Conoco for the tender.
BHP Petroleum is an oil and gas exploration and production company, with a predominant upstream emphasis, and interests and activities in 10 countries. It is a wholly owned subsidiary and one of the three main interests of the Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited.
Syria’s government began issuing tenders in 2001 for oil and gas exploration after Syrian oil experts concluded that the country’s reserves will run dry by 2012. Syria’s oil reserves are estimated at some 2.5 billion barrels with its gas reserves reaching 240 billion cubic meters. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
