Syrian Oil Minister Ibrahim Haddad said Shell won a licence in the Damascus-Palmyra region while a group led by India's ONGC Videsh (OVL) was awarded block 24 that covers 2800 square kilometres.
OVL had submitted its bid in partnership with Texan-based exploration company IPR. The two partners plan to spend up to $US7 million on seismic acquisition and drilling two wells in the first phase of exploration in the block.
Although details remain sketchy, it has been reported that US-based Ocean Energy and Canada's Stratic Energy have also been awarded exploration rights with Stratic putting in bids for blocks 12 and 17.
