Van
I think you've forgotten there was pipeline through the area for many years - the old TAP line. And it was bedevilled by politics even then - every time Syria wanted some more cash a "farmer" would "accidently" drive a bulldozer through it.............................
Construction of the Trans-Arabian Pipeline began in 1947 and was mainly managed by the American company
Bechtel. Originally the Tapline was intended to terminate in
Haifa which was then in the
British Mandate of Palestine, but due to the establishment of the state of
Israel, an alternative route through
Syria (
Golan Heights) and Lebanon was selected with an export terminal in Sidon. The Syrian government initially opposed the plan, but ratified Tapline construction in 1949 following a
military coup overthrowing democratic rule there.
[1] Oil transport through the pipeline started in 1950.
Since the 1967
Six-Day War, the section of the pipeline which runs through the Golan Heights came under
Israeli occupation, though the Israelis permitted the pipeline's operation to continue. After years of constant arguing between Saudi Arabia and Syria and Lebanon over transit fees, the emergence of oil
supertankers, and pipeline breakdowns, the section of the line beyond
Jordan ceased operation in 1976. The remainder of the line between Saudi Arabia and Jordan continued to transport modest amounts of petroleum until 1990 when the Saudis cut off the pipeline in response to Jordan's support of
Iraq during the
first Gulf War.
Today, the entire line is unfit for oil transport