Syria begins oil extraction at recently controlled fields, state news agency says

CAIRO, Jan 24 (Reuters) - The Syrian Petroleum Company has begun extracting oil from recently controlled fields and sending output to the Homs and Baniyas refineries, the state news agency SANA reported on Saturday.

One of those fields, al-Omar oilfield, which is the country's largest, came under government control recently after a lightning offensive against Kurdish forces who had held the site for nearly a decade and used it as a military base.