The Syrian President has sent parliament a draft law to ratify three contracts awarded to the Qaterji brothers to build two oil refineries and develop the Banias oil terminal.

The Ministry of Petroleum has rejected demands that it supply more cooking gas to Syrian households at subsidised prices, citing shortages as winter approaches.

Syrian imports of Iranian crude oil doubled in the six months through the end of September, according to recent data, increasing inventories.

The government has increased significantly the price of gas canisters used by businesses, as shortages bite; the move will push the inflation rate higher.

The market for oil products in Syria has remained stable in the past weeks despite an attack on submarine pipelines linked to the Banias Port.

The list below includes the names of all the Syrian entities that have been blacklisted by the European Union since the beginning of the uprising in March 2011.

A private sector company owned by influential investors has gained a quasi-monopoly on the import into Syria of oil products, highlighting the key role this company plays as the government battles to reduce shortages.

The shortages of energy products are increasing economic hardship for Syrians and posing various types of economic and public services challenges.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources has decided to reduce further the petrol it is allocating to individual car owners as shortages harden across Syria resulting in increased pressure on the currency.

Syria’s unrelenting energy crisis is pushing the government to try various solutions, including new supplies from the northeast and more import licenses to private investors.

The Syrian government has allowed the private sector to import liquefied petroleum gas in order to meet a shortage in supply.

Demand for oil products in Syria appears to have increased by some 20 percent in the space of two years.

Government sources have confirmed Syria’s current output of crude oil and that most oil is still supplied through tankers.

The Deir-ez-Zor gas plant is a gas processing and gathering plant located northwest of the city of Deir-ez-Zor.

Syrian manufacturers that are able to pay in foreign currency will be given priority when buying oil products, a rare instance of the government encouraging the use of the dollar in the domestic market.

The total value of contracts awarded to Syrian companies by United Nations agencies last year was close to USD 200 million, according to a UN document.

The UN has been granting dozens of millions of dollars to companies associated with the regime, a report from The Guardian has found.

The following is a short profile of the members of the Syrian Government appointed on July 03, 2016.

Updated on July 05: A new Government was formed in Syria on Sunday, the first in two years.

The Syrian Government’s decision to impose a sharp rise in the price of oil products has been met by wide complaints in regime-held areas, which seem to reflect the exhaustion of the population.

The United Nations agencies based in Damascus have contracted dozens of Syrian companies to supply them with goods and services worth hundreds of millions of dollars in the past years.

Syria’s production of oil and gas continued its decline in the first quarter of this year, according to the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources.

The Syrian Prime Minister fired last week the head of the Syrian Customs Department, Majdi Hikmieh.

Based on the numbers prepared by the Government, Syria’s deficit should represent around a third of the total budget next year.

The Government has allowed the private sector to import gas oil and fuel oil for the benefit of manufacturing companies as it seeks to alleviate shortages in the market.

The Ministry of Petroleum wants to confiscate and manage petrol stations owned by private investors but that are currently idle.

According to the Ministry of Petroleum, Syria’s production of crude oil in 2013 declined 80 percent compared to 2012.

The Damascus governorate has signed a contract with Mahrukat for the construction and management of 13 petrol stations across the Syrian capital.

Syria's imports of crude oil and refined oil products stood at some $3 billion in the first nine months of the year, according to the minister of oil, Sulaiman Al-Abbas.

The subsidy bill for oil products reached SYP 112 billion in the first half of this year, according to the minister of petroleum.

Continuing shortages of oil products in the market have led to the dismissal of the head of Mahrukat only six months after his appointment.

In the first quarter of this year, sales of key energy products declined by some two-thirds on an annual basis over growing shortages.

International sanctions, attacks on pipelines and the suspension of works at the refinery of Banias have reduced significantly the supplies of heating oil in Syria leading to a surge in its price in the black market.

The consumption of oil products in the local market fell between 12 and 27 percent in the first eight months of this year, according to Mahrukat, the state body in charge of their distribution.

Mahrukat, the state entity in charge of the distribution of energy products, began yesterday selling heating oil to Syrian families under a scheme adopted by the government lately.

The Ministry of Economy has reduced the average weight of a cooking gas cylinder to 10 kg but kept its price unchanged, in effect increasing its cost by some 16 percent, as it battles with continuous shortages.

Syria is facing a renewed cooking gas shortage due, according to the Minister of Petroleum, to EU sanctions on the industry.

The European Union has added 12 persons, including the spouse of the Syrian President, and two companies to the list of people and institutions facing an asset freeze and a travel ban.

Updated February 15: Syria raised the prices of petroleum coke and kerosene sold in the local market as well as that of fertilisers.

The Syrian authorities are preparing to raise again the price of heating oil, less than a year after they decided to reduce it, a decision that is likely to create discontent among the population but reflects the deteriorating situation of the Government’s finances.

Updated January 08, 2011: An explosion targeted last week a gas pipeline near the city of Homs leading to the interruption of supplies to two power plants and adding to Syria’s electric supplies problems.

The cost of subsidizing oil products by the Government amounted to SYP 181 billion, or USD 3.62 billion, in the first nine months of this year, according to the Ministry of Oil.

The supply of gas oil at government-sponsored prices is becoming increasingly scarce in various parts of the country, although Damascus remained little affected until now.

Demand for gas oil rose 11 percent in the first nine months of this year on the back of a 25 percent reduction in its retail price decided earlier this year, data from the Ministry of Oil show.

On September 15, the Syrian government raised the price at which it sells fuel oil to private corporations and state entities by 53 percent.

Syria will increase the price of fuel oil by 53 percent starting September 15, in a bid by the Government to reduce its subsidy bill, although the new rate will still be some 50 percent below market prices.

The net value of subsidized oil products reached SYP 116 billion, or USD 2.47 billion, in the first six months of 2011, according to Mahrukat, the state entity in charge of distributing energy products in Syria.

The Syrian government spent USD 2.49 billion to finance the cost of oil products subsidies in the first half of this year, according to Abdullah Khattab, Director General of Mahrukat, the state monopoly in charge of distributing oil products.