The US and Kurdish forces, who were in control of one fourth of Syria territory before October 2019, are now controlling oil wells in the eastern part. The current situation occured after Turkey launched separate attacks into the region and Ankara deals with Washington and Moscow which made the Kurds to withdraw their forces from Syria bordering Kurdish regions.
USofficials have stated that Kurds will benefit from the oil wells and can provide their incomes by the oil wells. Meanwhile there are reports of oil smugglings from northern Syria into the autonomous Kurdistan Region in the north of Iraq.
To shed light on the situation Kurdpress made an interview with Rauf Mammadov, a Russian expert of energy in the Middle East and a Middle East Institute expert.
A resident scholar on energy policy at The Middle East Institute who focuses on issues of energy security, global energy industry trends, as well as energy relations between the Middle East, Central Asia and South Caucasus, Mammadov believes Washington is attempting to prevent Damascus from control of the oil wells and therefore the oil-rich region.
What follow is his answers to Kurdpress questions;
After going out from Northern Syria and giving a green light to Turkey to attach Kurds, the U.S now focuses on Syrian oil fields. what does America want from these oil fields which are under the control of Kurdish forces?
The primary reason behind the U.S.'s military deployment in oil and gas-rich territories of Syria is to deprive Bashar Assadəs regime of its valuable energy sources. Syrian oil refineries, Banias and Homs, are located in the most Western regions of Syria, whereas, the oil fields necessary to feed these refineries with crude oil, are located on the Eastern bank of Euphrates and connected by pipelines. Therefore, the control over these territories is strategically important for anti-Assad powers. Currently, Iran remains the only sources of supply to Bashar Assad regime. For instance, Earlier this year Syria faced grave fuel shortage problems due to failure of Iran to supply oil to Baniyas port. Iran has significantly increased supplies to Syria after the U.S. sanctions kicked on May 1st, 2019.
Also, we saw two agreements between the Syrian government and two Russian companies for developing Syrian oil and gas fields which are under the control of Damascus. is this a way for controlling all oil and gas fields including those under the control of the U.S?
The latest two deals signed with Russian companies are merely exploration activities. These are exploration licenses granted by the Syrian government to explore Blocks 9, 12 and 23, to determine whether these blocks are commercially feasible to develop. Both Russian companies, "Mercuriy" and "Vlada", are unknown service companies.
Block 9 is located in territories to the north of Damascus, under control of government forces. Block 12, which is located on the western bank of Euphrates, was previously licensed to Soyuzneftegaz, another Russian company, which had frozen its activities since 2015. Unlike currently producing fields, these blocks have not yet been developed, and it is unclear how will these companies proceed with their exploration activities amidst the civil war. The fate of these developments will depend on the political resolution of the civil war.
Do you agree that oil fields under the control of Kurds can be a useful tool in their negotiating with Damascus?
The power that controls these oil-rich territories will also preserve a valuable bargaining chip for the negotiations aimed to determine the fate of post-civil war Syria, if that process ever occurs, for the reasons mentioned above.
There are reports which state that the oil produced in Syrian Kurdish-controlle regions is sold in Turkey via Kurdistan Region of Iraq, How do you see these claims?
There have been reports about the smuggling of Syrian oil from Kurdish-controlled territories to Turkey. Bashar Al- Assad mentioned the matter in one of his latest interviews. President Assad even went further by accusing the United States of stealing Syrian oil. Similar accusations were made against ISIS when the terrorist organization was controlling these territories. Local tribes and opportunist business have created a smuggling corridor since then, which is being utilized even now. In some instances, some local tribes and militiamen control these areas by making pacts with Kurdish forces. The U.S. army personnel in the area most likely instructed to prevent the smuggling of oil to Assad-affiliated forces. Yet, these fields are significant sources of revenue for the local population. Thus, they use the opportunity to smuggle oil or oil products to Turkey.
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