Syria expects gas output to jump by 4 million to 5 million cubic meters per day within a year once ConocoPhillips finalizes a deal this week with Damascus— the first U.S. oil and gas major to sign a contract with the country's new government , the Financial Times reported Monday. Before the civil war broke out in 2011, Syria was producing 30 million cubic meters of gas daily . The agreement, alongside partner Novaterra Energy, aims to revive fields shattered by years of conflict and sanctions.
But Syria's gas revival is about more than reconstruction. It sits at the heart of a broader geopolitical pivot: the Four Seas Initiative, a proposed energy corridor designed to bypass the Strait of Hormuz entirely. The project would incorporate 6,300 kilometers of Syria's recoverable prewar pipeline network alongside existing Turkish infrastructure to route Gulf, Iraqi, and Caspian hydrocarbons overland to European markets , according to the Washington-based New Lines Institute. "When there are risks around the Strait of Hormuz, energy supplies become uncertain," Syrian Energy Minister Iyad Kanatri said at a recent forum. The timing is deliberate: Hormuz has been effectively closed for three months during the U.S.-Iran conflict, and even with a tentative peace deal, two of Qatar's 14 LNG trains were damaged in Iranian strikes and will take years to repair , Reuters reported.
Can Syria Become the Next Energy Hub?
The Four Seas concept is ambitious—perhaps fantastically so. One corridor alone, the Arab Gas Pipeline modernization, would require $1.2 billion to rehabilitate the Egypt-Jordan-Syria-Turkey line . Discussions focus on increasing the Kirkuk-Baniyas pipeline's capacity from approximately 1 million barrels per day to between 2 million and 2.5 million barrels per day , according to Syrian officials. Yet Syria's governance remains fragile, its infrastructure battered, and its ability to guarantee territorial security uncertain.
Still, the initiative has attracted serious attention. Based on agreements signed with the Syrian government in recent months, these resources will be developed by companies including not just ConocoPhillips but Chevron, TotalEnergies, Eni, and QatarEnergy , OilPrice.com reported. The White House should formally designate the Four Seas Initiative as a U.S. strategic infrastructure priority, explicitly linking it to the energy security commitments made under the Three Seas framework , the New Lines Institute recommended in a recent policy brief.
The subtext is clear: diversify away from Hormuz, reduce European dependence on Russian gas, and reintegrate Syria into global energy flows. Whether it works depends less on engineering than on whether Damascus can sustain political stability long enough to attract the capital required.
Why Are U.S. Utilities Racing to Build Gas Plants for AI?
Half a world away, a different kind of energy scramble is unfolding. Dozens of large, off-grid power projects are being approved rapidly and often under a cover of secrecy across the United States to supply the tech industry's booming demand for powering data centers , Reuters reported Monday. Ohio made AI power-project approvals faster with a law last year allowing certain plants to win approval in as little as 45 days without public hearings .
The driver is simple: the grid cannot keep up. In the U.S., data center power use jumped from 23 gigawatts in 2023 to 42 gigawatts in 2026—nearly double in just three years . Analysis presented to PJM Interconnection governors warns of a 49 GW U.S. generation shortfall by 2028—a gap roughly equivalent to 49 large natural gas power plants . Grid interconnection queues now stretch to seven years or more, while a behind-the-meter gas plant can be deployed in as little as 18 months .
So tech companies are building their own. Dominion Energy South Carolina and Santee Cooper's proposal to build a $5 billion, 2,180-MW gas-fired power plant was approved by state regulators on June 12, Utility Dive reported. Williams has announced a $5.1 billion portfolio for "power innovation," which includes building modular, gas-fired power plants at data center sites, including a $1.6 billion investment in Project Socrates, set for completion in the second half of 2026 . Exxon Mobil has a pipeline of over 2.7 GW in data center power projects .
The model is spreading. Over the past year, Meta's 800-acre Bowling Green data center has been joined by construction of a large natural gas power plant meant to serve the project , Reuters found. Residents like Breanne Kidd, who runs a home daycare across the street, weren't told about the plant until construction began.
