Syria: Washington and its terrorist tools continue to plunder Syrian national wealth and strategic resources

Syria confirmed that the United States of America and its tools of terrorist organizations and militias continue to violate Syrian sovereignty and plunder the country’s wealth and strategic resources. 

Syria demanded that American officials be held accountable for the thefts and that the American administration be obligated to compensate for them. 

Today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates sent a letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the President of the Security Council demanding that they put an end to the aggressive practices and violations of the principles of international law and the provisions of the United Nations Charter, committed by the United States of America and its military forces that are illegally present on parts of the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic. 

The Ministry pointed out that the United States of America and its tools of terrorist organizations and militias continue to violate Syria’s sovereignty and plunder the country’s wealth and strategic resources, with the aim of exacerbating the effects of illegal unilateral coercive measures and depriving Syrians of enjoying the capabilities of their homeland and increasing their suffering. 

The Ministry said that the value of the damage caused to the Syrian oil sector as a result of acts of aggression, looting and sabotage committed by the United States forces and their terrorist tools amounted to a total of 115.2 billion US dollars, during the period from 2011 until the end of the first half of 2023. 

The Ministry explained that the latest statistics and estimates of losses in the oil sector in Syria show that the value of direct losses amounted to 27.5 billion US dollars, resulting from the following: The theft, waste, and burning of extracted oil amounts estimated at 341 million barrels.

The Ministry added that the rate of theft was in the range of 100-130 thousand barrels per day, and recently reached 150 thousand barrels per day, in addition to 59.9 million cubic meters of natural gas, and 413 thousand tons of domestic gas, with a total value of $21.4 billion. 

The Ministry said that the illegal aircraft of the so-called (International Coalition) bombed oil and gas facilities in Syria, with damage amounting to $2.9 billion. 

The Ministry continued: As for indirect losses, they amount to $87.7 billion, which represents the value of lost benefits (from crude oil, natural gas, and domestic gas), as a result of lower production than planned rates under normal working conditions. 

Syria stressed that the losses referred to are not just numbers, but rather facts and evidence proving the responsibility of the United States and its allies for the suffering and deterioration of the living and humanitarian situation of the Syrians, with the aim of undermining their national choices. 

Syria demanded that American officials be held accountable for these thefts, oblige the American administration to compensate for them, end the illegal presence of American forces, and return the lands it occupies, oil and gas fields, and other natural resources to the Syrian state, to ensure the improvement of the humanitarian and living situation of Syrians.

O.M