(MENAFN) Syrian Oil Minister Suleiman Abbas has signed an oil and gas deal with the Russian Soyuzneftegaz company, according to the Peninsula Qatar. The agreement aims to provide Syria with the exploration of an area of 2,190 square kilometres in the Mediterranean. General Petroleum Company head Ali Abbas said: "The contract is the first ever for oil and gas exploration in Syria"s waters. It will be financed by Russia, and should oil and gas be discovered in commercial quantities, Moscow will recover the exploration costs."