Islamic State Is Raking In $800 Million From Black Market Oil Sales
Oct 21, 2014, 12:50 IST
TwitterAn ISIS militant carrying the regime's flag in a propaganda video. The Islamist State militant group now running a big chunk of northern Iraq and Syria, is churning out more than $2 million dollars worth of oil every day, according to an analysis released by IHS.
Scarily, that's far below the group's potential output. IHS says Islamic State is probably only producing 50,000 barrels per day, but the territory it occupies is capable of producing 350,000. It's also selling the oil for less than $60 per barrel to smugglers, in comparison to an international price of more like $85 per barrel. If the group, previously called ISIS or ISIL, was producing at its full capacity and selling at market prices, it could rake in closer to $30 million every day. IHS adds that how IS' oil production is going to progress depends mostly on the military campaign against them:
Scarily, that's far below the group's potential output. IHS says Islamic State is probably only producing 50,000 barrels per day, but the territory it occupies is capable of producing 350,000. It's also selling the oil for less than $60 per barrel to smugglers, in comparison to an international price of more like $85 per barrel. If the group, previously called ISIS or ISIL, was producing at its full capacity and selling at market prices, it could rake in closer to $30 million every day. IHS adds that how IS' oil production is going to progress depends mostly on the military campaign against them: