TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné said security concerns still rule out a return to onshore oil operations, but confirmed the French company is rebuilding its Iraq-Syria oil transit routes.
Issued on: 08/07/2026 - 07:05
3 min Reading time
Pouyanné, said on Tuesday that he would discuss signing an offshore exploration contract with Syrian officials, but added that lingering insecurity meant a return to onshore oil activities was still not a viable option. The CEO was accompanying French President Emmanuel Macron on his visit to the country as part of a business delegation, but the meetings were overshadowed by bomb attacks in the capital Damascus on Tuesday. Prior to pulling out of Syria in 2011 owing to EU sanctions, Total produced around 30,000 barrels of oil per day in the country's east, as well as some gas. "Clearly the security situation still does not allow us to work here today," Pouyanné told journalists in Damascus. "Today the sector is in poor condition. Various groups continued producing during the conflict, but in a completely irregular way. Frankly, Syria is not a major oil story," he said. Pouyanné was speaking shortly before the bomb attacks. A Total press representative declined to comment on whether his schedule had been affected by the incident. The blasts wounded 18 people near the Four Seasons hotel, where Macron had spent the night. Macron, whose motorcade had left the hotel shortly before the blasts, did not hear the explosions. He pressed ahead with his visit, meeting President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the presidential palace. Bombs injure 18 in Damascus as Macron makes historic visit to Syria Offshore exploration Total signed a memorandum of understanding with the Syrian Petroleum Company in May to explore an offshore block in the Mediterranean. "Syria's offshore area has never really been explored historically, so we have partnered with other companies to look into it. We will discuss it today with our Syrian counterparts to see whether we can move towards a contract," Pouyanné said.
