During a tour of the South-Central Area and Ebla gas plants, Minister al-Allaw noted that the increasing production of natural gas lowers the importing of state-subsidized fuel, which supports national economy by saving considerable amounts of foreign currency and reducing pollution resulting from burning fuel.

The Minister pointed out that Syria has large reserves of gas currently estimated at around 284 billion cubic meters, adding that new gas fields were discovered in the areas of Deir Attiyeh and al-Kalamoon.

He also said that Syria's oil production is stable at 380,000 barrels per day, hoping that production will increase in coming years.

According the al-Allaw, the South-Central Area gas plant produced more that 120 million cubic meter of clean gas, around 70,000 barrels of oil and condensates, and more than 350 tons of cooking gas since its opening in November. The plant was designed to produce 7.65 million cubic meters of unprocessed gas per day.

The Ebla gas plant, which will begin work in May, will produce around 2.5 million cubic meters of gas, 2500 barrels of oil and 100 tons of cooking gas per day. The plant is currently being constructed in cooperation with Petro-Canada.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources provides around 18 million cubic meters of gas to electric power stations each day, which is equivalent to 18 tons of fuel that costs around USD 9 million. It is also easy to deliver gas to electric power stations across Syria via the Syrian gas transports network.

Damascus, SANA 19/12/2009