According to Syria's state news agency and satellite images released Wednesday, a major oil spill triggered by a power plant leakage in one of the country's oil refineries is extending along the Mediterranean country's coast.
Syria's Environment Department Control Action
Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that the spill had reached the coastal town of Jableh, which is 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of the refinery in Baniyas. Syria's environment department and the municipality of the coastal province of Latakia had put all related departments on high alert. Work to clean the coast in the rocky sections is currently ongoing, according to the report.
Syria's government had announced the control of a gasoline leak from one of the tanks at Baniyas Thermal Station a day earlier.
Planet Labs Inc. satellite pictures, released on Wednesday, depicted a large oil spill spanning 25.5 square kilometers (about the area of JFK Airport). The slick was not visible in a photo taken on Monday, implying that whatever caused the spill occurred later.
The chairperson of the Tartous Workers Union's Electricity Workers Syndicate, Dawoud Darwish, blamed cracks in one of the thermal station's fuel tanks. He stated that the tank held 15,000 tons of fuel.
The majority of Syria's oil reserves are outside of government control however, the country's two refineries are under government control and operational. Damascus is now reliant on Iran for gasoline, but US Treasury sanctions have hampered the supply chain, which stretches across Syria, Iran, and Russia.
For over a year, there have been a series of mystery attacks on vessels in Mideast waterways, notably off Syria's coast. They have arrived amid escalating regional tensions between Iran, Israel, and the US.
Israel has been attacking what it claims are Iranian-linked sites in Syria on a regular basis in recent years and has increased these assaults this year in what Western intelligence sources describe as a shadow war to weaken Iran's influence.
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Oil Tank Explosion in The Coast of Syria
An oil tanker exploded off the coast of Syria on Sunday, triggering a small fire in one of its engines, according to state media.
The crew rapidly extinguished the fire on the ship, which was located off the coast of Syria's Mediterranean port of Banias. Fortunately, there were no deaths, according to the report.
According to industry experts, the refinery in Banias, along with another in Homs, serves a substantial portion of the country's need for diesel, heating fuel, gasoline, and other petroleum products.
Syria has been increasingly reliant on Iranian oil exports in recent years, but tighter Western sanctions on Iran, Syria, and their allies, as well as a foreign currency shortage, have made getting enough fuel more difficult.
In recent weeks, there have been rumors of IDF strikes in Syria on Hezbollah and Iranian outposts. According to the SANA, a claimed Israeli airstrike struck a facility in Latakia and Tartus on Syria's Mediterranean coast on Tuesday.
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