Noor Petroleum has confirmed that it has completed an economic feasibility study of the Deer Al-Zour oil refinery in the east of Syria, with the results pointing to strong production potential.

The Kuwait-based company carried out the assessment with the approval of the Oil Refining Committee in the Syrian Ministry of Oil and Minerals as the Damascus government looks to meet rising domestic demand for oil derivatives.

At a press conference held in the capital, the chairman of Noor Petroleum announced that the proposed Deer Al-Zour plant has a production capacity of around 140,000 barrels per day, enough to lessen Syria's reliance on imported oil derivatives, and in particular of diesel.

As well as using the new resources to meet demand at home, the Syrian Ministry of Oil is also expected to sell some of the oil to its neighbours in the Middle East, including Iraq, while the project will also create hundreds of jobs and investment opportunities for the local population.

Earlier this week, the small-scale UK producer, Gulfsands Petroleum, reported that it is set to begin extracting resources from its wells in the north-east of Syria, with an initial rate of just 10,000 barrels per day.

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