US-Syria Energy Symposium

Gulfsands CEO John Bell was delighted last week to represent Gulfsands, together with our Finance Director Andrew Morris at the Atlantic Council’s US-Syria Energy Symposium.

A distinguished panel, which included Ambassador Thomas Barrack and Guest of Honour Mr. Yousef Qiblawy, Chief Executive Officer of the Syrian Petroleum Company, and was expertly moderated by Wa’el Alzayat, Executive Director at the US-Syria Business Council (USSYBC), gave valuable insights into how the energy industry can be the engine room for the rebuilding of the Syrian economy in a way that will benefit all Syrians. The event attracted over 200 people in-person, and at least the same again on-line and was truly a “standing-room-only” event. It was great to see the enthusiasm and optimism in the room and hear of the tangible steps being taken to revitalise the industry. We were particularly pleased to confirm with Mr Qiblawy, Gulfsands’ readiness to return to operations in Block 26 under our existing Production Sharing Contract, and to spend some time with him working through the details of that return. We would like to thank the Atlantic Council, especially Landon Derentz and Victoria Taylor for hosting the event, as well as the USSYBC who also hosted a private dinner where discussions regarding the potential for the Syrian energy industry continued at length.