Iraq: Here's How ISIS Is Wrecking Iraq's Oil Industry

Sep 17, 2014 | Armin Rosen, Business Insider
View Original

The Islamic State has taken over several oil-producing areas in Iraq and Syria, raising fears that the group could leverage its hydrocarbon wealth to the point of economic self-sufficiency. A Washington Post article today complicates that picture: ISIS is indeed producing between 25,000 and 40,000 barrels of oil a day, less than East Timor and Cameroon but about as much as Poland, Germany, or New Zealand. However, its oil is of poor quality, and ISIS is likely having trouble transporting it.