Shutdown of Deir e-Zor’s informal refineries upends a hazardous local economy

DEIR E-ZOR — In late January, al-Omar—Syria’s largest oil field, located in the country’s eastern Deir e-Zor province—was almost entirely deserted. Following the overnight withdrawal of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), civilian employees had also abandoned the premises. Only a handful of informal refinery workers remained, standing listlessly in the bright desert sun.

Under the SDF, makeshift refineries—which transform crude oil into a low-quality type of diesel known as mazot—proliferated in and around northeastern Syria’s oil fields, which had fallen into disrepair as foreign oil companies ceased their operations. Shell, a British company that operated in al-Omar, pulled out in 2011 when international sanctions were imposed on the Assad regime.

In 2013, armed opposition forces including Jabhat al-Nusra and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) captured the al-Omar oil field, which was later seized by the Islamic State (IS) in 2014 and finally by the SDF in 2017.

In the days after the new Syrian government’s forces took control of al-Omar just over a month ago, those involved in the local oil industry were waiting to see what the latest change in control would mean for them.

“We have stopped all operations and are waiting for the government to issue further instructions,” Rami al-Ghanim, 37, a businessman who ran one of makeshift installations, known locally as “burners,” told Syria Direct on January 28. 

It would not take long for the instructions to come. On February 8, Damascus ordered the closure of all informal oil refineries across the province, citing health and environmental concerns. The next day, informal refinery workers at al-Omar protested the decision, which they said threatened the livelihoods of neighboring communities. 

Rami al-Ghanim, 37, stands in front of a crude oil burner he used to operate at Deir e-Zor’s al-Omar oil field, 28/1/2026 (Natacha Danon/Syria Direct)

“Informal refineries will be relocated to an area in the eastern Deir e-Zor countryside, away from population centers to mitigate health and environmental impacts, then shut down once foreign companies start production,” a source at the Ministry of Energy told Syria Direct, requesting anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

On February 15, government security forces reportedly raided and burned a number of makeshift oil refineries in the eastern Deir e-Zor countryside—including in Dhiban, al-Jardhi and al-Tayyana—after their owners refused to shut them down, according to local media reports and videos circulated online. 

Syria Direct reached out to the Ministry of Energy’s press office regarding the incidents, but received no response. 

In the days that followed, dozens of refinery owners and workers protested the government’s decision to shut down the makeshift installations, blocking roads in the town of Dhiban.

Last month, Shell sought a definitive withdrawal from al-Omar, requesting to transfer its shares in the oil field to the Syrian state. However, Damascus is set to sign a memorandum of understanding with other foreign companies for gas and oil extraction and exploration in newly acquired parts of northeastern Syria. 

The Syrian government has also concluded a flurry of memoranda of understanding for gas and oil extraction in other parts of the country, including a landmark offshore exploration deal with Chevron.

Farhan Mandoub, 38, has worked in the informal refineries for the last five years to support his wife and eight children. When asked what he would do for work now, he shrugged and said: “We’re laborers. We were born laborers and we’ll remain laborers—I have to support my children.”

Ghanim is $300,000 in debt for sums he paid to the SDF to operate 17 makeshift refineries in and around al-Omar, he said. “All I ask is that the state give us three or four months to cover our costs,” he added. Ghanim said he was forced to share a portion of the oil he extracted: “For every 1,000 barrels of oil, I would provide 700 barrels of refined mazot to the SDF.”

Ghanim oversaw 40 workers—including Mandoub—who earned an average of $300 per month, significantly higher than public sector wages. In Syria, the average public sector salary ranges between $120-150 per month. 

Mandoub fears that working in another sector will not allow him to make ends meet. “A low wage won’t do anything—the state must give us work,” he said. “I only have God and this work.”

As makeshift refineries fall silent, an entire local economy faces collapse. However, health and environmental actors say it is necessary to bring the informal, risky industry to an end. 

Farhan Mandoub, 38, stands in front of an oil burner he used to operate at Deir e-Zor’s al-Omar oil field, 28/1/2026 (Natacha Danon/Syria Direct)

Health outcomes

At informal refineries like those around the al-Omar field, mazot is extracted from crude oil by being heated inside a closed burner, or furnace. As the temperature rises, some of the gases contained in the oil evaporate into a pipe that runs through a ditch filled with water. As the gases cool, they condense, and mazot is collected at the end of the pipe. 

Producing mazot in this way is difficult work, and poses hazards not only to workers but to surrounding communities and the environment. “There are respiratory illnesses due to gas emissions—last year, we had four deaths because of inhaling poisonous gases, which led them to suffocate,” said Dr. Khalid Walid al-Hussein, who manages Jadid Baggara Hospital, located next to al-Omar. Mandoub personally knew eight refinery workers who died. 

Oil fires release noxious substances into the air including sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and lead. “These can be transported over a wide area before deposition in soils and can cause severe long-term health effects for people and wildlife, especially people with pre-existing respiratory problems,” a 2016 report by the research organization PAX noted. 

“Long-term exposure to oil-related substances may lead to respiratory disorders, liver problems, kidney disorders, anaemia, teratogenesis (prenatal toxicity), developmental disorders and cancer,” it added. Deir e-Zor province has one of the highest rates of cancer in Syria.

“We tried in 2013 under the FSA and Jabhat al-Nusra to at least minimize production, but we failed because we couldn’t find an alternative for people,” al-Hussein added. “People worked in the oil fields because the local economy stopped with the revolution.”

Despite Deir e-Zor’s significant oil wealth, the province was severely marginalized under the Assad regime, as oil revenues were redirected to other parts of Syria. Then, under opposition and SDF control alike, “the Jazira [region of northeastern Syria] wasn’t benefiting from the oil industry—there are no hospitals, no services, no drinking water,” al-Hussein added. 

“Under all of the previous factions there was marginalization—the region is paying a [health] tax so they should not be marginalized,” al-Hussein said. He argues local communities should benefit from state investment as compensation for the health and environmental impacts of the oil industry. 

Truck drivers transporting oil from Deir e-Zor’s al-Omar oil field to refineries in Baniyas and Homs wait for their next shipment, 28/1/2026 (Natacha Danon/Syria Direct)

Environmental impacts

Even with makeshift refineries shut down, their legacy will continue in both the land and the bodies of those living nearby. “Toxic oil products will contaminate soil and water resources, with long-lasting impacts on the environment of these communities,” noted the same PAX report.

“The impact on the environment is vast and includes air pollution and soil pollution. The soil needs treatment, but treatment needs to be preceded by studies. However, since 2011 all the labs have stopped and they need specialized, multidisciplinary teams,” Alaa Hazaa, head of Deir e-Zor’s environmental directorate, told Syria Direct.

“The impact of the smoke is well-known—it’s known that the plants take in the carbon, so it affects the harvest. It also decreases production, every polluted area has lower production,” echoed Hamad Aboud al-Khader, head of Deir e-Zor’s farmers’ union. In the absence of affordable alternatives, “people are obliged to eat the vegetables,” he said.

Hamad Aboud al-Khader, head of Deir e-Zor’s farmers’ union, sits at his desk in Deir e-Zor city, 28/1/2026 (Natacha Danon/Syria Direct)

“The smoke falls to the ground—as a result the earth is black, even the sheep are black,” al-Hussein noted.

Solutions are elusive for the time being, given limited state resources. “The solution is available, but we are not an executive authority—we only play a monitoring role,” Hazaa added, noting that the Ministry of Environment makes executive decisions.

“⁠Just having any formal refineries, whether foreign or Syrian, would be an improvement in the case of the northeast. So much of the oil-related pollution in recent years has been a byproduct of the conflict with poorly equipped, sometimes insufficiently trained workers refining fuel in whatever way they could,” said Peter Schwartzstein, a climate and environmental security researcher.

Informal oil refining is not limited to Deir e-Zor. Over the past decade, makeshift oil burners proliferated in the opposition-held northwest as well, with similar impacts on workers and the environment. 

Read more: ‘A ticking time bomb’: Hellish work at northwestern Syria’s makeshift oil refineries

“Foreign oil companies have generally been better—or perhaps more accurately less bad—at environmental management than their domestic peers in Iraq and a number of other countries because they’re beholden to tougher regulations,” Schwartzstein said. “Local companies are often able to present jobs and economic development as issues that justify any kind of ecological destruction.”

However, while environmental and health outcomes may change as foreign oil companies rehabilitate formal oil installations, nearby communities will continue to be impacted by the industry.

An oil installation sits in disrepair at al-Omar field, 28/1/2026 (Natacha Danon/Syria Direct)

Scientific sources cite “potential health impacts due to exposure to upstream oil extraction, such as cancer, liver damage, immunodeficiency, and neurological symptoms,” as well as “adverse impacts to soil, air, and water quality in oil drilling regions.”

The source at the Ministry of Energy noted that foreign companies will be responsible for environmental studies. This could represent a significant conflict of interest. 

Oil companies are generally required to contract a third-party consulting firm for environmental impact assessments to ensure a degree of independence. However, in weak, conflict-affected countries, notably in the Middle East, state oversight is typically limited. 

“The environment-focused ministries are unempowered, underbudgeted, and seriously lacking in enough trained personnel,” Schwartzstein said. “Yet it’s also hard to see companies acting with the appropriate rigor when policing their own interests at a time of limited oversight.”

It remains to be seen whether some who worked at Deir e-Zor’s informal refineries will find a place in the formal industry that replaces them, but Mandoub is hopeful. “If foreign companies come, it will be better—there will be better working conditions and better wages,” he said. 

*Correction 2/24/2026: The initial version of this report stated that, in addition to his makeshift refineries, Rami al-Ghanim operated four oil wells at the al-Omar field for which a down payment of $100,000 was paid, which is not the case. Syria Direct regrets the error.

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