US Senators Lindsey Graham and Mike Pompeo announced at a recent Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing that a deal had been finalized between an American oil company and the Syrian Kurds to optimize oil facilities in northeastern Syria.
However, the Kurdish Autonomous Administration in northern Syria has denied finalizing any oil contracts between Syrian Kurds and American companies.
Pompeo had claimed that the contract had been implemented, and some reports have named Delta Crescent Energy as the contractor.
A senior Kurdish self-government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told National Interest magazine that no company had signed an oil contract with the Kurds yet. He stressed that both Russian and American companies are looking for oil activities in the Kurdish-controlled region, but that no company has signed a contract with the Kurdish Autonomous Administration in northeastern Syria.
Ahad al-Hindi, a Syrian-American analyst who has worked closely with the Syrian Kurds, also believes that there are still many issues that need to be resolved.
Meanwhile, Abed Hamed al-Mahbash, a senior Kurdish self-government official in northern Syria, also said the Kurds were currently studying applications from Russian and American companies to work in northern and northeastern Syria.
The Kurdish official stressed that the US company Delta Crescent Energy, which is said to have signed a contract with the Kurds, is currently licensed by the US government but has not signed any contract with the Kurds; The issue is still controversial and under study.
According to National Interest, American companies need government permits to operate in Syria due to US sanctions.
Ahed Al-Hindi stressed that Lindsay Graham and Mike Pompeo were in a hurry to announce the contract. The US decision to work in the oil fields is good, but no contract has been signed. There are many issues. For example, the transfer of oil in areas controlled by the Syrian Kurds through Iraqi territory requires the permission of the Iraqi government. This American company has only received a license from the US Treasury.
The Office of the US Secretary of State and Lindsay Graham have not yet responded to a request for comment on an agreement between the Kurds and the US company.
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