Oil production in Syria has dwindled since civil strife spread across the country, its oil minister said today.

Swathes of Syria have been in turmoil since the fighting began and the UN General Assembly believes the death toll has now eclipsed 80,000.

Yesterday oil minister Suleiman Abbas said the nation’s daily oil production is now at 5% of what it was prior to the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011, reported AP.

He is said to have told lawmakers the country is producing just 20,000 barrels compared with 380,000 barrels it was pumping two years ago.