First Syrian Crude Oil Shipped In Aftermath Of Assad’s Overthrow

The West has moved fast on Syria in the wake of Assad’s ouster – first lifting most sanctions and now ensuring oil and gas are tapped and get flowing again. The brutal sanctions served to punish the broader Syrian population for many years.

It underscores once again that the disastrous war was really about externally-driven regime change and installing a more malleable puppet government - which turned out to be essentially Al Qaeda in suits. 

Bloomberg is reporting that the Switzerland-based Vitol Group, which is the largest independent oil trading company in the world, will soon receive and export Syria’s first shipment of crude oil and transport it to a refinery in Italy.

The report indicates, “The shipment is due to load on Wednesday, the person said. The company declined to comment and Syria’s energy ministry didn’t respond to requests to do so.”

The last several months have seen Pentagon reduce its occupation at and near Syria’s oil and gas fields in the northeast, where American forces had long supported Kurdish and Arab ‘Syrian Democratic Forces’ (SDF).

It’s unclear what kind of deal may have been quietly worked out between Kurdish groups, and the Sharaa/Jolani government, and the US military. But Bloomberg notes further:

America’s most senior envoy in Pakistan has told the South Asian nation that US companies are showing “strong interest” in its oil and gas sector.

During Trump’s first term he had openly advertised that US troops would stay in Syria to “secure the oil”. Ultimately, US national security officials sought to starve Assad government areas of vital resources, in order to choke Damascus into submission.

The country’s production before 2011 was estimated at hundreds of thousands of barrels per day – which was really just enough to provide for its domestic energy needs.

During the mainstay of the proxy war and US occupation of Deir Ezzor and Hasakah provinces, some 90% of Syria’s crude oil came from Iran. There were still mass fuel shortages, and huge queues at gas stations.

Syria had never been a significant exporter or importer of crude, which means the population has suffered greatly during the war, and amid international sanctions. 

The CIA asset who decided he’s the President of Syria graciously offered Trump the ultimate deal:

U.S companies can have a free-for-all with Syria’s oil, gas, and reconstruction projects.

He also threw in intelligence sharing and normalizing relations with Israel.

In return?… pic.twitter.com/haQlvgMpKc

— Kevork Almassian (@KevorkAlmassian) May 10, 2025

The US occupation in the northeast cut off the bulk of the country from access to its own natural resources. There’s a likelihood that now the new hardline Sunni regime in Damascus can enrich itself.

It remains anything but clear whether the country’s limited natural resources will go back to benefitting the people, or if it will be merely siphoned off by external players – a scenario strongly suggested by Trump’s own prior words.