SYRIA - First Deep Water Oil Project

Syria has selected an offshore location for its first deep-water oil and gas exploration project involving US energy company Chevron and Qatar’s UCC Holding, the Syrian Petroleum Company.

Syria’s territorial waters in the eastern Mediterranean are considered strategically important due to major natural gas discoveries in recent years involving Egypt, Israel, Cyprus and Lebanon.

According to Tawil, onshore oil production had previously served as a central source of state revenue before the war and accounted for most Syrian oil exports as well as a substantial share of domestic energy demand.

-themedialine.org, 12 May 2026

Commentary: The Syrian nation has suffered tremendously. They were defeated in their wars against Israel in 1948, 1967, and 1973. But the worst seems to be the 14 years of civil war, which more or less ended in December 2024 when the Assad regime collapsed.

Now there is hope, with potential oil deposits in the deep waters of the Mediterranean. The country borders the Mediterranean to the west with about 120 miles of coastline. If developed, it could cause many Syrian refugees to return to their home country. According to various sources, there are about 6.1 to 6.7 million Syrian refugees who have settled mostly in Europe.

Our interest lies in Scripture, particularly Isaiah 17. The chapter starts: “The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap” (v. 1). This verse has led many Bible scholars to believe that Damascus will be totally destroyed.

About Damascus, UNESCO writes: “Founded in the 3rd millennium B.C., Damascus is one of the oldest cities in the Middle East. In the Middle Ages, it was the center of a flourishing craft industry, specializing in swords and lace. The city has some 125 monuments from different periods of its history—one of the most spectacular is the 8th-century Great Mosque of the Umayyads, built on the site of an Assyrian sanctuary.”

One may ask: has the Scripture been fulfilled? We understand that to be the case, because archaeologically speaking, only little evidence testifies of the existence of the old Damascus, dating to approximately 700 BC. But in reality, it no longer exists.

We have mentioned the fact before that much of the Middle East conflict is due to Arab-occupied Israeli territory. God’s original promise to Abraham defined the borders: “from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates” (Genesis 15:18b).

In 2 Samuel 8 we read: “David smote also Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to recover his border at the river Euphrates” (v. 3). Regarding Damascus and the Syrians, verse 6 adds: “Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus: and the Syrians became servants to David, and brought gifts. And the LORD preserved David whithersoever he went.”

There seems to be at least a slight possibility that Syria may establish a degree of peace with the State of Israel.

(See Unveiling the Kings of Israel, Item #2258, $29.99.)