Syria/Kurdistan: Syrian Kurds Build on a Ramshackle Oil Industry [Photos]

May 11, 2018 | Hussein Malla, Associated Press
View Original

The Kurdish self-rule administration seized control of oil fields in northeastern Hassakeh province after the government pulled out of most of the Kurdish-majority regions in 2012 to fight rebels elsewhere. Abdul-Karim Malak, the Kurdish oil minister, said oil and gas are the self-rule administration's main revenue source, though he wouldn't divulge figures. The Syrian government has vowed to eventually retake all the oil fields, but for the time being there is a quiet arrangement between it and the Kurds. Damascus buys much of the surplus oil that the Kurdish-run areas don't use. Also, many employees of the government oil company have returned to work, still receiving their salaries from Damascus.