The Syrian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources signed the "Amrit" contract with Russian company Soyuzneftegaz for offshore oil drilling, development and production in block no. 2 of Syria's territorial waters, Syria’s state news agency SANA said.

The report doesn’t not mention where the deal was signed.

The Associated Press reminds that earlier this year, Syrian Oil Minister Suleiman Abbas discussed with the ambassadors of China and Russia the possibility of exploring for oil and gas off Syria's Mediterranean coast.

Most of Syria's oil and gas fields in the country's east are under opposition control and the country's oil exports almost have stopped.

Israel is already developing recent discoveries of massive offshore deposits and Lebanon has also spoken of trying to develop offshore fields.