The Iraqi government has said it was troubled by the alleged sale of crude oil from parts of the country under the control of the militant jihadist group, Islamic State.
“The Ministry of Oil is troubled by reports that crude oil from fields currently under the control of ISIL is being smuggled toexport markets, generating revenues for this terrorist organization,” it said in a statement on August 20.
Islamic State has taken control over parts of northwestern Iraq. Several companies havepulled non-essential staffout of the area as a security precaution.
Concerned by the seizure of oilfields and pipelines by militant groups in Iraq and Syria, the UN Security Council last week passed a resolution condemning the use of oil as a source of finance for a group known also as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.
The Iraqi Ministry of Oil said on August 20 it was calling on UN member states to take action to prevent theexport of smuggled crude oilinto territories they control.
The ministry said the only entity authorised to sell crude oil on the international market was the State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO).
“International purchasers and other market participants should be aware that any oil exports made without the authorisation of the Ministry of Oil may contain crude oil originating from fields under the control of ISIL,” the ministry warned.
ManouchehrTakin, a senior energy analyst, told New Europe on August 22 that it would be very difficult for ISIL to export the oil on a lrage scale and sell it to world markets.
“There’s smuggling going on from Iraq, from Iran, from Nigeria - all these countries where the price of petrol, that is petroleum products, the price is very low compared with neighbouring countries, there is smuggling is going on every time. But a real actual large scale export is not that simple because you need infrastructure and you need major companies or traders to buy the oil,” he said.
“But if it is small volume, buying into second-third hand, black market, the volumes would not be that much. But whatever it is unwelcome because it gives a little bit of small revenue to the terrorists to do illegal work, he added.
The Iraqi Ministry of Oil made no direct reference to ongoing legal disputes with the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government. The federal government in Baghdad has previously condemned what it also sees as rogue crude oil exports from Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) bypassing SOMO.
The KRG operates its own oil fields and infrastructure in the north of the country and exports crude by road tanker and pipeline to Turkey. Oil is transported to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan and onto international buyers who are willing to take on the disputed cargo.
http://www.neurope.eu/article/isil-jihadists-smuggle-oil-out-iraq