EIA: Syria's energy sector in disarray

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WASHINGTON, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- Almost two years of war in Syria has left its energy sector in disarray, pushing the country back several years, the U.S. Energy Department said.

Protests in March 2011 grew into a civil war in which, by U.N. estimates, more than 70,000 people have been killed.

The U.S. Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said that while Syria isn't a global leader in energy, the conflict is taking a toll on domestic and regional markets.

"Even when the fighting subsides, it may take many months -- or more -- for the Syrian domestic energy system to return to pre-conflict operating status," the EIA said.

The EIA states that Syrian oil production in 2010 was around 400,000 barrels per day. As of October, however, production was down nearly 60 percent to 153,000 bpd. The Syrian government had relied on oil for more than 30 percent of its total export revenue.

EIA states that, since October, the cost to the oil industry because of the war was around $2.9 billion.

"Against this backdrop, Syria's energy sector is in a state of disarray, and the current conflict threatens to set Syria's energy sector back by years," the EIA reports.