Iraq has suspended crude oil deliveries to Syria, a member of the Iraqi parliament said on social media as quoted by BNE Intellinews. The statement coincided with one by Iraq’s foreign minister, who expressed concern about the security situation in the country that was taken over Islamist groups.
“Iraq has decided to stop providing Syria with crude oil starting this month,” Mustafa Sanad said.
Separately, at an event in Baghdad, Foreign Minister Fuad Hussain voiced his concern about the potential resurgence of terrorist activity in Syria.
“Whilst we respect the Syrian people's choices, we remain vigilant about the potential return of terrorist organisations,” Hussain said.
Syria has been importing some 120,000 barrels of crude daily from Iraq and now faces a supply squeeze as a result of the Iraqi authorities’ decision. The situation will be aggravated by the halt to internal deliveries of crude from eastern Syria, controlled by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces, to the rest of Syria, which is under the control of the Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham group, formerly considered a terrorist group by the international community, which was supported by Al Qaeda during the Syrian civil war.
Following the insurgence that toppled the Assad government earlier this month, supplies of crude oil from Iran have also ended, with one tanker even making a U-turn en route to the Syrian coast following the news of the change in power in Syria. Iran was exporting some 60,000 barrels of oil daily to Syria. The country’s own oil production is to the tune of some 80,000 barrels daily, all from eastern Syria, which is under the control of the Kurdish-affiliated Syrian Democratic Forces.
Since the takeover, fuel prices in Syria have skyrocketed, sources from the country told BNE Intellinews, as fuel station stocks run out and transporting gasoline and diesel from Syria’s refineries is challenging due to the transitional situation.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
