June 1, 2006
CARACAS (MarketWatch) Syria aims to maintain it petroleum output at around 400,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day in the years ahead by awarding new exploration blocks and raising recovery from existing fields, the country’s petroleum minister said Wednesday.
Speaking ahead of an Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries meeting here, Sufian al-Alao said he expected to award Blocks 13 and 15 in Western Syrian to Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) in around a month.
He also said Syria was in discussions to award Block 7 to a Ukrainian oil company.
Syria’s output has declined from around 600,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day in the mid 1990s.
Al-Alao told Dow Jones Newswires earlier this year that Shell had a good chance of winning the blocks. The terms of the license would be about seven years and the company should spend $50 million on oil and gas exploration, al-Alao said.
European majors such as Shell and Total SA (TOT) are continuing to show interest in the Middle East country despite some U.S. companies either moving out or considering a pullout.
ConocoPhillips (COP) and Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) have already exited Syria, while earlier this week Marathon Oil Co. (MRO) signed a deal with Syria to resolve a long-standing contract dispute, a step that could allow it to withdraw.
In May 2004, U.S. President George W. Bush banned all U.S. exports to Syria, except for food and medicine, in accordance with the Syria Accountability Act. The 2004 sanctions require federal permits to export most oil field technology to Syria.
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Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
