• 3 minutes e-car sales collapse
  • 6 minutes America Is Exceptional in Its Political Divide
  • 11 minutes Perovskites, a ‘dirt cheap’ alternative to silicon, just got a lot more efficient
  • 3 hours GREEN NEW DEAL = BLIZZARD OF LIES
  • 1 hour How Far Have We Really Gotten With Alternative Energy
  • 11 hours If hydrogen is the answer, you're asking the wrong question
  • 4 days Oil Stocks, Market Direction, Bitcoin, Minerals, Gold, Silver - Technical Trading <--- Chris Vermeulen & Gareth Soloway weigh in
  • 6 days The European Union is exceptional in its political divide. Examples are apparent in Hungary, Slovakia, Sweden, Netherlands, Belarus, Ireland, etc.
  • 1 day Biden's $2 trillion Plan for Insfrastructure and Jobs
  • 5 days "What’s In Store For Europe In 2023?" By the CIA (aka RFE/RL as a ruse to deceive readers)

ISIS Blows Up Five Oil Wells in Iraq

Five oil wells set on fire is the latest disaster caused by ISIS militants. The de facto rulers of Mosul set the wells on fire in a bid to stop the Iraqi army, which has been steadily advancing to the capital of the terrorist group, Fars News reports. In addition to the well blow-ups, ISIS also mined roads in the vicinity.

The wells were located near the Qayyrah refining complex in the province of Nineveh, where the Iraqi army has been preparing to take on Mosul – the city that fell to the militants in 2014. A day ago the army successfully took control of the Qayyrah airbase, which is 60 miles south of Mosul.

Blowing up the wells is a desperate measure: ISIS relies on oil for its funding and the destruction of refineries and oil tankers in the territories under its control has been a priority for the army. Earlier this month, media reported that the terrorist group is digging pits in the oil fields around Mosul to use as storage, and is also constructing makeshift teapot refineries to process the crude.

The information came from aerial photos taken by Stratfor, showing scores of tiny little refining units. These typically require just a pit for the crude and a portable furnace to separate the fuel fractions.

Related: The Bears Are Back – Oil Slides On Negative Sentiment

ISIS bore down on Iraq and Syria in 2014 and managed to capture large swathes of the two countries before their respective armies started striking back. Oil has been essential for the organization’s survival—and they’ve been more than just surviving, even thriving. One analysis from Al Jazeera notes that the terrorist group can count on the services of petroleum engineers and technicians, and that even at prices of US$20-40 a barrel, it’s making US$1-1.5 million a day from sales of crude.

The buyers are hard to identify on this black market, but the main route for exporting the crude has been established to be through Turkey, according to a research paper from Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:



Join the discussion | Back to homepage



Leave a comment

Leave a comment

EXXON Mobil -0.35
Open57.81 Trading Vol.6.96M Previous Vol.241.7B
BUY 57.15
Sell 57.00
Oilprice - The No. 1 Source for Oil & Energy News