ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Syria’s Ministry of Energy on Tuesday announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with two US-based energy companies, amid ongoing efforts toward the country’s economic recovery and expanded international collaboration.

“A new Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Syrian Petroleum Company and both ConocoPhillips and Novaterra,” the ministry revealed in a statement.

The signing of the agreement comes within the framework of the ministry’s efforts to “expand partnerships with international companies” and accelerate the country’s oil production rate to achieve “significant economic returns and support recovery and development plans in Syria,” the statement added.

The agreement aims to develop “a number of existing gas fields,” as well as launch exploration programs to locate new fields, which “will enhance national production capacities,” and support the energy sector, according to the ministry.

Since the rise of the new Syrian government to power following the ousting of the previous Baath regime, Damascus has aimed to revive its energy sector, which has suffered harsh blows throughout years of war and civil unrest.

The former regime under the leadership of Bashar al-Assad had long-established key partners and associates who operated within the country’s energy fields; many key fields halted their operations with the collapse of the regime.

Damascus has been seeking new international partners while simultaneously working to normalize relations with key former Russian operators in the country, a matter discussed during President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s historic Moscow visit, where he expressed openness to the renewal of the two countries’ oil-based collaboration.

The UAE-based Dana Gas signed an agreement with Damascus on November 12 to redevelop and expand natural gas fields, including the Abu Rabah natural gas fields in Homs province, “one of the largest gas discoveries in Syria.”

Sharaa met with US President Donald Trump earlier in November, expressing Washington's "readiness to provide the necessary support that the Syrian leadership needs to ensure the success of the reconstruction and development process in the coming phase," according to the Syrian foreign ministry.