Iraq is losing more than $102 million each month because the Daesh militant group – which controls large parts of the country – is selling stolen oil, according to a parliamentary report issued Wednesday.
The report states that, on a monthly basis, the militant group is selling some 1.27 million barrels of oil seized from the country’s oil wells.
“Daesh currently controls six of the country’s oil wells, from which it is producing 1.27 million barrels of oil [each month],” MP Ahmed Haji Rashid said.
According to Rashid, Daesh is hurting the country in two different ways – “by selling oil at $30 per barrel [i.e., at below-market prices] with which it purchases weapons [to carry out attacks].”
“This is how it maintains its existence, causing double harm to the country,” he said.
Recent weeks have seen clashes between Daesh militants and Iraqi security forces over the Baiji oil refinery – one of Iraq’s largest oil facilities – in the Saladin province north of Baghdad.
Iraq has struggled with a security vacuum since June of last year, when Daesh overran the northern city of Mosul.
