Alan Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Brown on 2015-12-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of how many barrels of oil Daesh sell on a daily basis; and which countries are involved in the purchase of that oil.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We estimate that Daesh generates around $1.5 million a day in revenue from oil sales, equating to a daily crude production of between 34000 and 40000 barrels. The oil comes primarily from fields in Northern Syria. The vast majority is consumed by Daesh, sold within the territory it controls, or smuggled into regional black markets. The only Government we have evidence of being involved in purchasing oil from Daesh is the Assad regime.

Individuals involved in brokering oil deals between Daesh and the Assad regime have been sanctioned by the EU. The UK has also led efforts at the UN to make it illegal for any state, company or individual to trade in oil or oil products with Daesh, including co-sponsoring UN Security Council Resolution 2199 in February 2015. We work closely and continually with allies, particularly in the region, to ensure Resolution 2199 is implemented, sanctions are enforced and all smuggling is stopped.