Syria restores formal banking channel for Saudi oil imports

DAMASCUS, Syria (MNTV) — Syria has completed its first documentary credit transaction in 14 years to finance petroleum imports from Saudi Aramco, reopening a formal banking channel for strategic energy purchases.

According to The Arab Weekly, the transaction involves the Central Bank of Syria, the Syrian Petroleum Company and Saudi Aramco, with a major US bank also participating in the arrangement.

The documentary credit provides a formal mechanism for financing and settling the petroleum purchase. Under this arrangement, a bank guarantees payment to a supplier when specified contractual conditions and documentation are met.

The transaction is significant because Syria’s banking sector has faced years of restrictions and difficulties conducting international commercial operations. Some trade transactions have consequently depended on alternative payment and settlement arrangements.

The Central Bank of Syria said the operation could help establish channels for financing other strategic imports through the formal banking system.

Such arrangements could improve the organization of international payments, facilitate commercial transactions and reduce complications associated with settling foreign purchases.

The involvement of a US bank is another notable aspect of the transaction. However, the bank’s identity has not been publicly disclosed in the reported announcement.

The transaction does not establish that Syria’s international banking relationships have been fully restored. It instead represents a limited development that could provide a framework for additional trade-financing operations.

For Syria, securing reliable access to petroleum supplies remains an important economic priority. The new arrangement offers a potential route for conducting energy imports through recognised banking mechanisms.