generalspeaking

Daesh's Oil Resources

"We have the proof in our hands. We will reveal it to the world. In recent days a fashion led by Russia has emerged. Actually, Russia does not believe this [Turkish oil trade with ISIL] either."

Remember when two Turkish warplanes shot down a Russian jet that had wandered for 17 seconds into Turkish airspace, and Russia, livid with indignation and rage, accused Turkey of laundering black market oil to benefit the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and Turkey indignantly denied any such thing? There are always rumours, and rumours don't exist in a reality vacuum. The rumour that Ankara during the early stages of ISIL's formation and growing domination of territory in Iraq and Syria found support in Turkey had its foundation in fact.

And there is little doubt that ISIL's captured oil wells' product is filtered through Turkey, although not only through Turkey, since where there's money to be made and where strange alliances are made throughout the Middle East with its confounding medieval intrigues are concerned, fire and smoke go together quite naturally. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is particularly incensed that Russian generals accused members of his family directly in importing jihadist oil for their personal profit.

Again, where there is rumour there is fact, and Erdogan's political colleagues and his son as well have all managed handily to profit from their association with illicit transfers, a matter he is only too well aware of. When those accusations surfaced within Turkey itself, Mr. Erdogan took immediate corrective steps by mass-arresting police, lawyers, members of the judiciary, until matters straightened themselves out nicely. Righteous indignation suits him well, a man of honour and commitment.

As for the President of Russia, his sanctimony sits well with him also. Foreign Policy magazine has recently published an interesting article written by two journalists, one Turkey-based, the other working out of Washington, D.C.; Ceren Kenar, and Ragip Soylu, respectively. They write that Syria had contracted with Russia in 2007 to construct a huge gas facility named Tuweinan, some 60 miles southwest of Raqqa which has since become ISIL's capital of its caliphate. The construction company is Stroytransgaz, owned by Gennady Timchenko, an associate of Mr. Putin's with links to the Kremlin.

Stroytransgaz, was in fact, named as a sanctioned company, imposed as response to the confrontation over Ukraine, the company singled out for engaging in activities "directly linked to Putin". As construction continued, Syrian rebel groups including the al-Nusra Front seized the facility in 2013. At that juncture Russian engineers and advisers had vacated the construction site. Since then, however, the rebel groups lost control of the gas plant to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, who now have possession of it.

The Islamic State, however, gave 'permission' to Stroytransgaz and its subcontractor Hesco to continue with construction of the facility. Ever since, Russian engineers have worked there to complete the project. This is where realpolitik rears its practical head; no sense waving goodbye to such a good investment, after all, and with a sense of spirited cooperation, everyone could gain. Islamic State, which has grasped possession of the plant, Syria, which can use the oil, and Russia which stands to gain profit from its sale.

Without making mention that the gas facility was now under Islamic State control, the Syrian state-operated newspaper Tishreen published a story corroborating the fact that there is quiescent agreement between the three. The paper cited Syrian government sources stating that Stroytransgaz had managed to complete by 2014 -- while the plant was in ISIL's possession -- 80 percent of the facility, preparing to hand the project over to the regime.

The facility's completed phase of production began around the end of 2014, becoming fully operational throughout 2015. "Some of the natural gas goes to the Aleppo power station, which operates under the Islamic State's protection, and the remainder is pumped to Homs and Damascus", said David Butler, an associate fellow at Chatham House, based in London, who had seen documentation setting out the project's details.


And, according to Abu Khalid, a member of the Qwais al-Qarani brigade, part of the rebel coalition, Russian engineers still work at the facility. Haswani had brokered a mutually beneficial arrangement between Islamic State and the regime for gas production from the facility. "IS allowed the Russian company to send engineers and crew in return for a big share in the gas and extortion money. Employees of the Russian company were changing their shifts via a military base in Hama governorate."

What was that last bit of sanctimony that issued from Vladimir Putin's lips? Oh yes: "In fighting terrorism Russia is acting with extreme responsibility."

Labels: Islamic State, Oil Revenues, Russia, Syria, Terrorism

posted by Pieface @ Friday, February 12, 2016