Kobani, energy transit route both for ISIL, Kurds

By Selen Tonkus

ANKARA 

The Syrian town of Kobani, despite not being an energy-abundant region, is a vital oil transit route both for ISIL and Kurdish groups in conflict, say experts.

Having taken major oil fields in the north of Syria - Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor and al Omar - ISIL is rumored to be earning millions of dollars and to have created a local market in which they produce between 300-500 barrels of refined petroleum per day. 

 If they seize Kobani, ISIL will be controlling approximately 100 kilometers from its de facto headquarters in Raqqa - the largest oil field in Syria to Turkish border.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, experts drew attention to Kobani's geographical, economic and logistical position and said the region might serve as a vital link for short-term oil trade for ISIL. 

An Iraqi energy expert Ali Semin from Istanbul based think tank BILGESAM said one of the main aims of ISIL from the beginning is controlling energy resources and routes in Syria.

Claiming that ISIL had earned around $90 million monthly in Syria, Semin said "If ISIL seizes Kobani, it will have free place for further progress, it will have a long border with Turkey and its leverage of maneuver will enlarge." 

Tugce Varol Sevim, an associate professor at Istanbul's Uskudar University International Relations Department  said, "Kobani doesn't have energy resources but it is a very important transit route linking Syria's north with Iraqi Kurdish region."

She added, "Kobani is such a significant region that when ISIL is cleared out, a potential pipeline carrying Iraqi Kurdish oil might be transferred through Kobani, and sold to international markets over there."

Sevim claimed that when ISIL retreats from Kobani, Iraqi Kurdish authorities will take it over. She said, "ISIL attacked Mosul, which means Iraqi central government. But the U.S. allied with Erbil, instead of Baghdad.

U.S.-led coalition continue hitting a dozen ISIL-controlled oil refineries in remote areas of eastern Syria near Al-Mayadin, Al-Hasakah and Abu Kamal.

www.aa.com.tr/en