Syrian oil production down 30%

Syrian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Sofian Alao said Saturday that his country''s production of oil decreased 30-35% as a result of international sanctions. The sanctions were imposed on Syria due to its violent crackdown against anti-government protesters. Alao said in a statement, on the margins of the OAPEC meeting, that Syrian now produces 260,000 barrels a day. He said, however, that the explosion of the Egyptian LNG pipeline, which supplies both Jordan and Syrian with natural gas, did not have an impact on Syria''s electricity, due to the limited amount of gas imported from that pipeline. Syria exports from Egyptian gas represents 7% of its electricity consumption, he said, adding that Syria can make up for that loss through its own production of gas and oil. He added that Syria is close to finishing the third stage of the Arab Gas Pipeline project, which he says will help link the pipeline to the European market. He said that Iraq will use the pipeline to supply Europe with natural gas.