Chevron signs initial exploration deal for Syrian waters with Qatari firm

Chevron CVX.N has signed a memorandum of understanding, or an initial agreement, with the Syrian Petroleum Company and the Qatari firm UCC Holding to evaluate exploration for oil and gas offshore Syria, a spokesperson for the U.S. major said on Wednesday.

Syria's coast in the eastern Mediterranean lies between major gas discoveries in Israel and Egypt.

Chevron already operates the giant Leviathan gas field offshore Israel, the country's largest energy asset.

In 2013, a Russian company, Soyuzneftegaz, signed a deal to explore offshore Syria but the project was dropped two years later amid years of a raging civil war in the country.

The majority of Syria's oil production comes from onshore fields in the northeast, such as the Al-Omar field.

UCC Holding is a unit of Qatari-based Power International Holding, according to its website.

-Reporting by Ahmed Elimam and Shadia Nasralla; Writing by Tala Ramadan and Firas Dalaaty; Editing by Louise Heavens/Reuters