Middle East: Attack leaves pipeline in Syria inoperative one week

Um pipeline in northeast Syria was today the target of an attack of unknown authorship, which will leave the infrastructure inoperative until next week, reported the official news agency SANA.

The director of the Syrian Oil Company's Social Communication Office, Odai al Satouf, told the agency that the Al Jabsah pipeline was the target of an attack in the Al Arabidi region, about 60 kilometres from the city of Al Shaddadi, which caused a fire at the facility.

“The forecast is that [maintenance] works will be completed at the beginning of next week, when pumping and supply operations will return to normal,” he added.

During this period, “the company will work to ensure the supply of gas to power plants through alternative solutions, thus ensuring its continuous and uninterrupted operation,” he said.

This is the second attack suffered by this pipeline — which carries gas from the northeast to the southwest of Syria — in recent weeks.

On September 28, the Syrian Oil Company denounced an act of sabotage at an installation in the south of the province of Deir al-Zor, also of unknown authorship.

The oil company announced last week that the oil pipeline in northeastern Syria was the subject of an “act of sabotage” that caused damage, the third since September 29.

The incident, after which the competent authorities managed to “identify the authors, stop them and refer them to justice”, occurred at dawn in an installation in Al-Hasakah province, according to the company.

The oil company said that sabotage is part of a “series of attacks (...) that have recently targeted several pipelines and energy facilities in Syria”, actions that “damaged vital infrastructure”.

On October 1, another gas pipeline explosion near Damascus left three thermoelectric power plants inoperative.

These incidents occur at a time when the Syrians had gone out in mid - September to protest the rise in fuel prices — caused by the regional war, authorities said.

Syria's oil, gas and electricity production was heavily affected by the civil war that devastated the country between 2011 and 2024.

Currently, the country relies largely on imports to meet its oil needs, while its energy infrastructure remains obsolete after more than a decade of lack of maintenance.

The new regime in Syria is now seeking to extend its cooperation with large international companies and to harness the capabilities and modern technologies of exploration and production to support its energy sector.