US President Joe Biden’s administration has been seeking to reach an understanding with Russia in the Kurdish-led autonomous administration in northeastern Syria, sources revealed.
Under the understanding, Russia is expected to be able to invest in Syria’s northeastern oil resources, provided that it opens humanitarian crossings for aid entry. Moscow has previously agreed to a single crossing.
The Kurdistan 24 news website linked Washington’s decision not to renew a waiver for the US Delta Crescent Energy (DCE) oil company, which operates in eastern Syria’s oil fields, to persuading Moscow to open humanitarian crossings.
“Some Russian companies have been contracted to work in Syrian oil fields east of the Euphrates since the 1990s under deals with the Syrian government,” sources noted.
“US companies cannot operate there for risk of being sued,” Kurdistan 24 quoted a source as saying, adding that the Biden administration does not want to confront Moscow or face an international lawsuit.
It was recently reported that Washington has suspended the decision to exempt the DCE from sanctions imposed on Syria.
Last week, the US State Department issued a statement in which it underscored that the “US government does not own, control, or manage the oil resources in Syria.”
“It does not comment on whether private companies have authorizations or licenses, so we would ask that queries go to them,” a senior State Department official explained.
“But in a broader sense, I can assure you, as I did our partners in northeast Syria, that we have a military presence there exclusively focused on fighting ISIS. They are not there for any other reason. They’re not there to protect the oil. They’re not there to exploit the oil resources. Syrian oil is there for the Syrian people,” the official added.
