Qatar is set to provide Syria with gas via Jordan to improve the nation's meagre electricity supply and boost Syria's new rulers, according to three people familiar with the matter, in a move that a U.S. official said had Washington's approval.
A U.S. official said the gas deal had a nod of approval from President Donald Trump's administration without saying how this was communicated.
Qatar's state news agency later said an agreement had been signed between Qatar's development fund and Jordan's energy ministry to provide Damascus with "an approved supply of natural gas" via Jordan to help address Syria's electricity shortage, without mentioning Syria's new rulers or Washington.
Qatar's fund will provide Jordan's energy ministry with a grant to supply Syria with the gas, the fund told Reuters in an email.
Jordanian energy minister Saleh al-Kharabsheh told Jordan's state news agency the initiative would be fully funded by Qatar's fund.
The gas will be received at Jordan's Red Sea port of Aqaba and pumped to Syria via the Arab Gas Pipeline, Jordanian energy minister al-Kharabsheh said.
A segment of the pipeline runs from Aquaba north across Jordan to Syria.
The U.S. green light and efforts to encourage a deal between Kurdish forces in Syria's north and Damascus suggest the U.S. remains actively engaged in Syria, despite Washington moving more cautiously than European states to ease sanctions.
The gas would be transferred from Jordan via a pipeline to the Deir Ali power plant in southern Syria, two of the sources said.
The move will initially boost the Deir Ali power plant's output by 400 megawatts per day, an amount that would "gradually increase", according to the Qatari fund's statement.
Estimates of Syria's recent power capacity range up to around 4,000 MW.
The U.S. State Department and Qatar's foreign ministry did not respond to emailed requests for comment.