06-09-08 French oil major Total said it had signed three oil and gas agreements in Syria during a visit to the country by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Total said it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the state-owned Syrian Petroleum Company and Syrian Gas Company to set up a strategic partnership paving the way for common projects in the future.

Another deal extended an oil license for the Deir Ez Zor energy project in the east of the country for 10 years to 2021. It is wholly owned by Total and jointly operated by Total and the Syrian Petroleum Company.
A third agreement aims to increase Total's gas deliveries for the domestic Syrian market.

The deals "pave the way for increased cooperation between Total and Syria and bolster our operations in partnership with the national oil companies of this country," said Total chief executive Christophe de Margerie.
The French president is the first Western head of state to visit Syria since the murder of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri in a 2005 bombing in Beirut that was widely blamed on Damascus. De Margerie is accompanying him on the trip.