TotalEnergies, QatarEnergy, ConocoPhillips, and and SPC pool resources for Mediterranean oil & gas search

May 12, 2026, by Melisa Cavcic

Three international oil and gas players, France’s TotalEnergies, Qatar’s QatarEnergy, and U.S.-headquartered ConocoPhillips, have joined forces with the Syrian Petroleum Company (SPC), Syria’s state-owned oil exploration and production company, to embark on a hydrocarbon quest in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Syria.

Block 3 offshore Syria; Source: QatarEnergy

TotalEnergies, together with its partners, QatarEnergy and ConocoPhillips, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Syrian Petroleum Company regarding the exploration of Block 3 in the Mediterranean Sea. The MoU covers a technical review by the partners of the offshore block area and establishes a framework for technical and commercial discussions related to exploration activities on this block.

Julien Pouget, Senior Vice President Middle East and North Africa Exploration & Production at TotalEnergies, commented: “We are pleased to enter into this new partnership with the Syrian Petroleum Company with which we had a long and fruitful relationship from 1988 to 2011, and we look forward to cooperating with QatarEnergy and ConocoPhillips to assess Syrian offshore exploration opportunities in the Mediterranean Sea.”

The signing took place at QatarEnergy’s headquarters with the attendance of senior executives from QatarEnergy, TotalEnergies, ConocoPhillips, and the Syrian Petroleum Company. Block 3 lies in the Levantine Basin in the eastern Mediterranean waters offshore the Syrian city of Latakia, with water depths ranging from 100 to 1,700 meters.

Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs, President and CEO of QatarEnergy, highlighted: “This agreement reflects QatarEnergy’s continued international growth strategy and its efforts to explore upstream oil and gas business development opportunities in the region and globally.

“We are pleased to partner with the Syrian Petroleum Company to explore potential opportunities that can support growth and prosperity for the people of the Syrian Arab Republic. We look forward to working closely with our international partners, TotalEnergies and ConocoPhillips, as well as other relevant stakeholders to assess this opportunity.”

This MoU comes a month after TotalEnergies inked another one with Türkiye‘s national oil and gas giant, Türkiye Petrolleri A.O. (TPAO), for oil and gas exploration operations in the Black Sea region of Türkiye as well as internationally.