I do wonder, is this good news or bad? Or does this depend on who is asking the question?

The economy lives on two things: oil and tourism. The oil's scheduled to run out in a few years, so this is definitely good news.

Sasa, I want to disagree with you , the engine that drives the economy is the human resources , Syria is rich with it's people look at the entertainment industry , It is doing very well , look at Israel , It has no oil and it's tourism is in shamble only Jews feel obliged to visit are there , Israel has better GDP than Syria , Egypt and Jordon , more than 50% of the US GDP comes from small business which Syria can cultivate and encourage , Actually i hope Syria has no oil so it can improve more lasting revenue makers.

Norman has a point. Oil is the devil's excrement after all ;)

Sasa,
Oil gives a sleeping pill to the economy, just like money from gulf states did in the 70s.

I am not complaining about oil when it serves building up economy, but when its going to be piled up in swiss bank accounts, then... why should I be excited?

You call 25 million $ massive ????

25 million is not massive..

25 million is pittance when it comes to oil exploration, but then again we are talking about SYRIA here..

ASSAD would spin anything to boost his profile..

Wassim, Norman, Yazan...you all raise very good points, and it's something I am tempted to agree with. But I am worried that the shock treatment we are in for when the oil is expected to run out in a few years from now would do more harm than good.