Islamic State makes 3-6 mln dollars per day from oil revenue
(ANSAmed) - BEIRUT - Eleven oil wells in Iraq and Syria are believed to bring in over three million dollars per day to Islamic State (IS) coffers.
Israeli intelligence sources claim that the amount may be higher, as much as six million dollars per day. This is the reason behind the US airstrikes Wednesday evening on oil installations in the Deir Az-Zor province, eastern Syria. The 'Islamic Caliphate' proclaimed by Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi uses the funds - which make it the largest terrorist economic powerhouse ever - to stock up on weapons, pay its fighters well and buy off local Sunni tribes. IS controls four of the five main oil fields in Deir Az-Zor, the region with the most energy resources in Syria.
By selling oil at sharply reduced prices, say several sources in Syria, IS has been able to secure the support of armed tribal clans in both Deir Az-Zor and Raqqa, the only Syrian province entirely in its hands. In the Himrin region of Iraq's Diyala province (near the Iranian border) alone, IS is thought to be earning 600,000 dollars per day, the mayor of a city in the region, Oday Al-Khadran, stated in recent days. Khadran said that the jihadists fill about 100 tankers of oil per day and deliver it ''to ruthless retailers in Mosul or Syria. Here it is sold to foreign mediators at some 4,000 dollars for each tanker, some 80% less than market prices in Europe''.
The smugglers are then believed take it in several different directions - to Turkey, Iraq or Syria - but the end destinations are unknown. (ANSAmed).
