Syrian war is about staking claim on its gas reserves

Seven years ago, on March 15, 2011, Syria was pushed into the throes of a civil war. Did the protesters at the time suspect that their movement, initiated after the Arab Spring, would be the starting of a conflict that would ravage the life of millions and leave nearly half of a million dead?

What started as a peaceful revolution has become one of the deadliest conflicts in this region. One might then question, why the Syrian war continued over the years and allowed foreign countries and extremists groups access to its sovereign territory. Why has the nation that once was united now been fragmented?

It should be recalled that before 1999, Syria was the main gas producer in the Levant. Its onshore fields east of Homs and north of

Palmyra supplied gas far and wide.

Globally,

Syria ranked

43rd in terms of gas reserves in 2008 with

240 billion cubic meters, as per the World

Factbook.

One year before the war, in

2010, Syria was one of the main producers and consumers of natural gas. Three medium-sized gas fields north of Palmyra were enough to supply Syria with electricity 24 hours a day for 19 years.

Over 80 per cent of reserves of gas and oil are concentrated in the Syrian desert and the coast, and only about 12 per cent is on the island, contrary to what is known and traded. According to industry estimates, the fields of the Syrian island will be depleted as of 2022, while the rest of the fields in the desert and the coast will remain until at least 2051, if the exploitation begins in 2018.

It is a known fact that Russia holds Europe hostage in terms of its established pipelines that are used to transport gas to the country cheaply. Europe has been looking for other sources of gas to get around Russia.

Before the civil war, two competing pipelines put forward by Qatar and Iran aimed to transport gas to Europe through Syria. Syrian President Bashar Al Assad refused to give permissions to pipelines to go through his territory. Obviously, he was pressured by his main ally, Russia whose interest is to maintain control of the gas market.

According to energy experts,

Turkey aims to become a hub for the transfer of gas from the

Middle East to

Europe, which was the cause of the international war that erupted in Syria, where natural gas played a large role behind the scenes. Qatar and Turkey sought to overthrow the regime of Bashar Al Assad to pass the gas project, while Russia entered the defence of Assad to stop this scheme, which would prevent Moscow from passing Russian gas to Europe via the Mediterranean port.

Today, many gas pipeline projects are stalled and everyone is waiting to see how the cake will be distributed with Russia using its influence during Astana’s negotiations.

In any case, the transfer of gas to the Mediterranean requires passage through Syria. The choice of Iran via Iraq and then Syria for the Mediterranean Sea to transport the gas has toppled all plans of American gas project in Syrian territories. The Americans will now turn their investment interest towards Israel and Cyprus, eyeing the Lebanese gas and oil sector after the loss of the opportunity of Syrian gas.

The Syrian war finally was nothing but a pipeline war.

It is a known fact that Russia holds Europe hostage in terms of its established pipelines that are used to transport gas to the country cheaply. Europe has been looking for other sources of gas to get around Russia

Today, many gas pipeline projects are stalled and everyone is waiting to see how the cake will be distributed with Russia using its influence

VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THESE COLUMNS DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THOSE OF