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US Forces Blow Up Three Oil Tankers In Syria Enforcing Oil Embargo

US-led forces have blown up three oil tankers in Syria as the United States increases its pressure on Syria by thwarting the oil trade between the PKK/YPG and the Assad regime, according to local sources quoted by several media sources.

The strike was carried about by coalition planes, which hit three oil tankers, leaving four dead. The coalition has not yet made a statement about the attack. In the area controlled by Assad, oil consumption stands at around 136,000 bpd. Production, meanwhile, is only 24,000 barrels per day. This means that the regime must import significant volumes of crude oil at an estimated expense of more than $2 billion per year.

The attack comes a couple weeks after the EU extended its sanctions on the Assad regime for one year after the Syrian regime upped the ante in repressing the Syrian people, bringing the Syrian crisis to a boiling point.

Reports surfaced weeks ago that Iran had resumed oil shipments to Syria in the wake of US sanctions on the former, with a million barrels arriving in Syria from Iran on May 5. Further illicit oil shipments may be coming, as a new border crossing between Iraq and Syria is currently under construction, Fox News reported last week, based on satellite imagery revealing that construction is underway.

In Syria, Arab residents of oil-rich Deir Ezzor area began protests in April against US-backed Kurdish forces that control the region to the East of the Euphrates. The protests disrupted the oil flows from nearby fields, most of which have been controlled by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces since the end of 2017.

The fuel and electricity shortages that are occurring now in Syria have soured previous supporters of Assad against his rule. Iran, who has poured billions into Syria to prop up the Assad regime in recent years, is now feeling US pressure on both fronts—one at home as its oil exports are restricted, and another in Syria.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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  • DouglasBuckland on June 02 2019 said:
    Well, what is it? Did US forces blow up these tankers (article title) or was it US led forces (body of article)?
    One indicates the US acted alone, the other indicates a coalition effort.
    A subtle yet distinct difference.
  • Warren Browning on June 01 2019 said:
    The US has no authority to sanction Syria for anything. The only reason why the US is bombing Syria is to prop up the Dollar and cause discord within the region for the US arms industry.

    Bombing oil tankers will only escalate to retaliatory bombings of oil tankers bound to Western countries. The Straits of Hormuz will become a shipping graveyard.
  • Janice Kortkamp on June 01 2019 said:
    I have devoted the last 6.5 years of my life to researching Syria and the conflict there and made six trips since May 2016, spending almost a month each time traveling around much of the country including Deir Ezzor and al Mayadeen. I am 100% independent and self funded. Much of that time has been spent on my own with Syrian friends acting as guides and translators. I've met hundreds of Syrians from basically every background and often in random encounters. The reality on the ground is this: the great majority of Syrians despise the US attempted regime change and our headchopping thug mercenary terrorists. They support President Assad and the Syrian Arab Army. While most Syrians love the American people ... they are taught in school to separate people from their governments... they hate our governments with a passion for the never ending wars, covert subversions, sanctions, lies, propaganda etc. They know the lies against them and their leader as they full access to the internet and western mainstream war sell news media. Syria is a secular, women-empowering, gracious, hard working, productive society and all that is good there has been under attack by the US and allies. The US coalition is operating 100% illegally and squatting on Syrian oil fields. Now the US is trying to end any discussions between the latest of our mercenary forces, the SDF and Damascus. The US has no interests in Syria and ISIS only remains strong in US controlled areas to continue the false justification for our presence. The sanctions are designed to make the Syrian people suffer for daring to say no to our dictates. This is what happens when our military intelligence industrial complex becomes a mercenary force for Israel's ambitions for expansion in the region. Disgusting, despicable, treasonous policy.
  • Khaled Faiz on May 31 2019 said:
    So in summary Syria is prohibited to import oil from one of its region to another. As if Mexico cannot use its oil from Veracruz to Mexico City because the US government decided so without any UN resolution. This is economic state terrorism, is it not?

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