Russia's 2015 military campaign in Syria entailed a build-up of its presence in the eastern Mediterranean. Since that time, Moscow has been promoting the idea of maintaining and restoring state institutions in war-torn Syria and Iraq. Moscow has helped forge a range of new regional crisis-management formats including the Astana peace talks to resolve the Syrian conflict and the Baghdad Joint Coordination and Information Center comprised of Iraqi, Iranian, Russian and Syrian representatives. These efforts have been accompanied by other activities such as Russia’s gradual inclusion into oil and gas projects in the region.

Large gas deposits have been discovered since the early 2010s in the territorial waters of the eastern Mediterranean states, among them the Zohr field off the Egyptian coast, the Tamar and Leviathan fields off Israeli shores and the Aphrodite field off the coast of Cyprus. The natural gas reserves in the Levantine Basin are estimated at at least 3.8 trillion cubic meters. The projects could not but interest Russia as the major gas exporter to Europe. Russian companies had explored the market prior to 2015, but the country’s increased military presence in the region with deployments to the Khmeimim Air Base whipped up further interest.

Russian giants Rosneft and Novatek have formed consortia with Western companies and gotten involved in developing gas fields in the Levantine Basin. It's noteworthy that while Gazprom dominates the Russian domestic gas market in terms of development and sales, in the eastern Mediterranean, Novatek and more interestingly Rosneft hold sway. Rosneft managed to quickly join in the exploitation by acquiring a stake in the Egyptian Zohr Field and forming a consortium with the Italian energy company ENI, which had discovered the deposit.

Naturally, Russia has the most solid negotiating position on oil and gas projects in Syria. On Feb. 5, 2018, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Syrian Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Ali Ghanem signed a road map to cooperate in the oil and gas sector within the framework of an intergovernmental commission. The document references “rehabilitation, modernization, and construction of new energy facilities in Syria” as well as exploration projects on land and offshore. In July 2018, the Russian ministry reported the start of geological prospecting in Syria. Among the Russian companies mentioned that would likely be involved were STG-Engineering, JSC Zarubezhneft, JSC Zarubezhgeologiya and Technopromexport.