Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
Doha, SANA- With the participation of Syria, today it was the start of events of the 12th two-day Arab Energy Conference being organized by The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in the capital city of Qatar, Doha, entitled “Energy and Arab Cooperation”.
In his speech at the opening session, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Firas Qaddour, Head of the Syrian delegation, said that the acute shortage of oil derivatives and natural gas in Syria has led to the low capacity to meet the need of the people and the service and economic sectors.
“Following more than twelve years of unjust war on Syria, the lives and livelihoods of citizens have suffered catastrophic losses that had a severe impact on the economy, the issue that requires supporting this sector, raising the efficiency of its use, and keeping pace with the energy transition the world is witnessing along with expanding renewable energy projects”, Minister Qaddour said, adding “this is the best method of humanitarian response to the requirements of Syrian society and the first step in rebuilding Syria.”
Minister Kaddour made it clear that the terrorist war on Syria affected the energy sector greatly in terms of the extent of the sabotage that affected its components, both the oil and electrical sectors, and in terms of its production capacity, adding “as the electricity production in Syria depends almost entirely, at a rate of 94 percent, on traditional energy carriers (natural gas and fuel), the amounts of electricity produced in power plants decreased.
Despite all these challenges, Syria has taken many steps in the field of alternative energies, enacted new laws to encourage investors to establish power generation plants based on renewable energies, and facilitated procedures to attract foreign investments in this sector, Kaddour stressed.
Minister concluded saying “Today’s meeting expresses the spirit of solidarity among the participating countries in facing challenges in the field of energy and their consequences, which requires work to achieve a joint response that stems from awareness of the crises and challenges facing our countries.”
