South Front
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The United States-led coalition had smuggled another shipment of looted oil from Syria’s northeastern region to neighboring Iraq, the Syrian Arab News Agency reported on April 22.
Citing local sources, the state-run agency said that 34 tankers filled with oil illegally produced from occupied fields in the northeastern region crossed to the Iraqi Kurdistan region through the unofficial al-Mahmudiyah border crossing. Another convoy of 40 oil tankers left the region, also towards Kurdistan, via the al-Walid crossing.
The agency noted that this was the second shipment of oil to be smuggled out from northeastern Syria by the coalition this month.
On April 11, a convoy of 77 vehicles, including 32 tankers filled with oil and six armored cars of the coalition, crossed the border into Iraq.
The U.S. maintains control over all key oil and gas fields in northeastern Syria. Some 900 troops are said to be deployed in these fields, as well as in a garrison in the southeastern Syrian area of al-Tanf that blocks a strategic highway between Damascus and Baghdad.
Washington says that its forces are present in Syria to counter ISIS. However, Damascus accuses the U.S. of looting its oil with help from a proxy group, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Last year, the Syrian oil ministry accused the U.S.-led coalition and the SDF of stealing around 83% of the country’s oil production.
A report by Al-Monitor revealed that the SDF has been selling Syrian oil in Kurdistan at prices as low as at $15-$19 per barrel. There, the looted oil is either mixed in with the Iraqi Kurds’ own crude and sent to Turkey for onward export, or consumed locally.
Despite a recent increase in attacks on U.S. troops in northeastern Syria, Washington appears to be determined to maintain a presence in the country for the long term.
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