Sunday, Dec 25, 2011
(This story was originally published Saturday.)
CAIRO (Zawya Dow Jones)--European Union sanctions on Syria are negatively impacting the country's oil output which currently stands at around 260,000 barrels per day, its oil minister said Saturday.
"The sanctions are negatively impacting Syria's crude output. We are producing 260,000 barrels per day," Sufian Alaw told reporters. "Several foreign companies have stopped operating in the oil sector."
The EU in September implemented an oil embargo against Syria in response to the violent repression of the opposition by President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
The sanctions have put a chokehold on the country's oil exports, cutting the country off from its traditional export market and creating obstacles for newcomers, such as Indian refiners, now seeking to buying its oil.
Arab oil ministers are in Cairo for a meeting of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OAPEC, set for Saturday. Seven of the members of OAPEC are also members of OPEC. They are Algeria, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
-By Summer Said, Dow Jones Newswires; +966-546-842373; summer.said@dowjones.com
Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Co.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
25-12-11 0352GMT
