Let the Games Begin with Offshore Oil Drilling in Syria

[Seleskya + 50]

No one's been paying too much attention to Syria since the media has decided it's no longer interesting, but we may have missed that Syria is planning to start offshore drilling (this is the Levant Basin) in early 2019. Up for grabs are five offshore blocks. 

[Kate Turlington + 44]

Thanks for bringing this up! But the blocks aren't exactly 'up for grabs'. They've already been signed, we just don't know with whom. Not terribly hard to guess, but all that's been released is that they are 'friendly countries'. 

[Marina Schwarz + 1,576]

Some day someone will make a movie about the last five years of this decade and it will be titled "While You Were Sleeping". Focus on the Middle East and Asia.

[Kate Turlington + 44]

Some of this offshore territory was already contracted to Russia's Soyuzneftegaz--Block 2, I think. That was in 2013, but they couldn't do anything with it because of the conflict.