Syria Receives Massive Saudi Oil Shipment to Boost Energy and Support Reconstruction

A Saudi oil tanker carrying a massive shipment exceeding one million barrels has sailed towards Syrian ports, marking the first direct oil supply from the Kingdom to Syria in over a decade.

According to an informed source, the tanker, registered under the Liberian flag and carrying approximately 1.07 million barrels of crude oil, is part of a Saudi grant totaling 1.65 million barrels. This shipment comes under a memorandum of understanding signed last September, directed by King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Sources explained that the shipment was extracted from the Khafji and Al-Hout oil fields and departed from Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura port. For security and economic reasons, the tanker avoided the Red Sea by navigating around the Cape of Good Hope. It is expected to arrive in Syria by mid-November.

The Saudi support aims to operate the Baniyas refinery and power plants in Syria—a crucial step toward meeting the country’s energy needs, which have significantly declined in recent years. It also aims to strengthen Syria’s war- and sanctions-affected economy.

Economic experts view this shipment as the beginning of a strategic partnership between Syria and Saudi Arabia, which may stimulate investment and support reconstruction efforts amid growing political and economic rapprochement between the two nations.