After an intelligence operation…the SDF arrest oil smugglers to the controlled areas of the regime forces east of Deir Ezzor
The area stretched between Theban town to Al-Shuhayl area, is still witnessing processes of smuggling fuels of crude oil and mazut towards the controlled areas of the regime forces, through smugglers in the area, despite the continued attempts by the Syria Democratic Forces and the Internal Security Forces (Asayish) to limit this phenomenon through spreading their forces in the area, where the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights learned that the SDF managed to arrest 7 persons in Darnaj village while they were trying to smuggle oil to the regime’s controlled areas, also a person was killed after being shot by members of the SDF while he was trying to escape to the controlled areas of the regime forces, the SDF’s attempts have not helped much to decrease such actions of smuggling, especially with the presence of smugglers who have long reputation in the smuggling business even before the start of the Syrian Revolution, the most prominent of whom is that smuggling godfather who has a vast network in the area there, and who has smuggled fuels and other goods during the control of the “Islamic State” organization through a network of smugglers ordered by him, and he is continuing on the same way with the control of SDF over the area, and the Syrian Observatory published on the 27th of March 2019, that the challenges in the post-ISIS stage and its end as a dominant force in the east Euphrates area and in the Syria Democratic Forces’ controlled areas are increasing, and while the Organization continues to revenge for its loss of oil, smugglers move between banks of the Euphrates River in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, in an organized smuggling operations by smugglers away from being held accountable, and in the details obtained by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights: the area extending from Thiban town to al-Shuhayl area in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor on the east bank of Euphrates River; is witnessing smuggling of fuel from raw oil and gasoline towards regime forces’-controlled areas, and the reliable sources confirmed that each day about 100 – 130 tankers of oil and fuel are smuggled, which gives huge profits for the regime and smugglers at first place, in addition to the risk of transferring these crossings to crossings for sleeper cells of the regime and crossings to pass weapons and equipment to these cells, while reliable sources informed the Syrian Observatory that these crossings have been operating for weeks in the area, without being monitored or held accountable by the authorities which control the east Euphrates area, who are the Syria Democratic Forces and the Internal security forces “Asayish”.
Reliable sources confirmed to the Syrian Observatory their fears that these crossings turned into doors to pass weapons, drugs, banned materials, and explosives to the areas of east Euphrates in order to drown it in chaos, in addition to exploiting these crossings in the process of smuggling weapons by the regime and Iranians; to cells belong to them east of Euphrates area, at the time when these cells and others of the “Islamic State” Organization carry out almost daily attacks in the area, and the Syrian Observatory published in December 2018, that amid the hustle and bustle of death and the accumulation of tragedy day after day, the oil continues to be poured just like the Syrian blood, but the colors were different, and despite their differences the people of this country have not eaten form its goods, and they become homeless, humiliated, wandering in their country, displaced, refugees, and rejected by their shelters, they have become workers in their land but left only with some crumbs to fill some of their children’s hunger. And as the regime forces and the Russians are taking control with their security and economic companies over the oil of the west of Euphrates and the Syrian Desert and securing them fearing the return of ISIS, the east of Euphrates which is controlled by the Syria Democratic Forces is witnessing the pumping, selling, and trading of oil, and regarding that, the Syrian Observatory conducted a research into the nature of the work and the action in dealing with oil.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights learned from several reliable sources that the fields of al-Omar and al-Tank, are pumping on a daily basis a total of 20000 barrels from 5 wells named after families and people used to control these wells after the regime lost the control of the area, and they are the wells of: “Abu Loqman, Abu Shawarib, Abu Naylunah, al-Bashar, Abu Jamrah”, the sources confirmed that filling the barrels or tankers is carried out by pumping oil to tankers some of which can fill 100 barrels and called “al-Hout” (the whale), while other tankers can fill more than 200 barrels called “al-Dudah” (the worm). The value of the barrel is about 7000 SYP, and the reliable sources confirmed that part of the sale is done with owners of the oil refiners, who refine the oil in areas east of Euphrates and in areas controlled by Syria Democratic Forces, while the other part is sold to regime forces’-controlled areas and regime’s refineries, where tankers of Syrian businessmen who work by the name of “al-Qaterji”, transports hundreds of thousands of barrels per day to the oil refineries in regime forces’-controlled areas, also there are investments made by civilians, especially the elders of Deir Ezzor province and east of Euphrates, where the investment process works for 24 hours in exchange for a fixed amount of about 3 million Syrian pounds or more, depending on the well and its activity.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also learned from reliable sources that the pumping operation in the wells of al-Tank and al-Omar is automated, without the need for tools and equipment as happens in other fields such as al-Meleh Field and al-Azraq Field which contains 14 wells, plus al-Benzeen Field which is known for its excellent oil quality, while the Syrian Observatory monitored the ignite of a flame in al-Tank oilfield and the gas field of al-Omar field, while the system of measuring the weight of the tanker on the weights was adopted, fearing the fraud in the filling process or in the number of barrels, where they weight the tanker while it is empty and then they weigh it again after filling it to confirm the accuracy of the quantity, also the same sources confirmed that the Syria Democratic Forces are tighten their guard on the fields and oil wells, and impose a fine of up to 2000 USD on oil thieves, where the fine depends on the amount of the stolen oil.
لإhe Syrian Observatory published in April 2014 a detailed report about the oil in Deir Ezzor Province, it said:
After the Syrian regime lost control of the oil wells and gas factories in the eastern area in general and in the countryside of Deir Ezzor in particular, following clashes against Jabhat al-Nusra, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, and the rebel and Islamic factions, and after clashes between these latter parties themselves which left casualties and material damage; the office of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights in Deir Ezzor Province worked to investigate, search, audit, and monitor documented information about the oil life and the parties that control these wells, not forgetting the consequences of the uncommendable results of the random control and irregular use of this substance and its derivatives, as well as its sale and purchase.
Today, as our documented information about the distribution of oil wells and gas factories in the countryside of Deir Ezzor, we place them in the hands of the Syrian citizens to see, inviting them to read the file of their daily bread which goes to lockers that do not serve their present or future, where oil fields and gas factories are divided by 9 points:
1- al-Omar Oil field located 15 km east of al-Busra town.
2- al-Tank field in al-Sh’aytat Desert.
3- al-Ward field near al-Dwayr village.
4- al-Tim Field 10 km south Deir Ezzor city.
5- al-Jafra Field 25 km east of Deir Ezzor city.
6- Koniko Gas plant 20 km east of Deir Ezzor city.
7- al-Kharrata oil Station 20 km southwest of Deir Ezzor city.
8- Dero Oil Station 40 km northwest of Deir Ezzor city.
9- T2 Station which is located on the Iraqi – Syrian oil pipeline.
These fields and stations are followed by a large number of oil-pumping wells which increase in output as the size of the field or plant that feed these wells increase, and they are controlled by several parties that range between the Central Shariah Body, “which includes Jabhat al-Nusra (al-Qaeda in the Levant) and the brigades and battalions that swore allegiance to it, the Islamic movement of Ahrar al-Sham and the brigades and battalions that swore allegiance to it, Jaysh al-Islam and the brigades and battalions that swore allegiance to it, the rebel and Islamic factions and brigades, and armed clan groups of the area’s clans, where some wells were named after the names of the clans that control them, which -the armed clan groups- separated the wells from the pumping pipes that pump the oil into the assembly tanks in the main stations and fields, also the oil is refined in primitive ways through oil burners called “al-Harraqat”, which are reservoirs in which oil is placed and burned directly and then distributed by small oil transport trucks “tankers” to Deir Ezzor Province and other nearby provinces, to be sold between 5000 to 7000 SYP per barrel, these primitive oil refining method “al-Harraqat” has spread dramatically and extensively in the province, which caused environmental damage its effects were reflected to the citizens who are in and near areas of the primitive refining ways.
Activists in the office of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights in Deir Ezzor, have follow the details of each field and collected the following information:
1- al-Omar Oilfield and the wells near it, which is controlled by the Sharia Body in the eastern area, of which the main component is Jabhat al-Nusra (al-Qaeda in the Levant), where the amount of oil sold on a daily basis is about 10000 barrels at a price of 6500 Syrian pounds per barrel, and the Shariah Body began the selling about one week ago, while groups of gunmen of the clans from the villages of “Darnaj, Swidan Jazira, al-Jerthi, al-Tayyana, Thiban and al-Hawayej” control wells far from the oil field located on the southeastern side of al-Omar Oilfield, where the production of these wells reaches about 12000 barrels a day. While the clan gunmen from the villages of “al-Shheel, Mashikh, al-Hriji, al-Hawayej, Tayeb al-Fall, and al-Namliyyeh” control wells far from the field located to the west of al-Omar field, and the daily production of the last wells is about 10000 barrels per day, also al-Omar Oilfield has a gas plant and a power plant, which in turn feeds several villages in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, and the household gas cylinders are filled at a rate of 1000 cylinders per day, each cylinder is sold for 500 SYP, where the cylinders are distributed to the villages of Deir Ezzor countryside according to a regular turn, because of regime’s denial of gas access to the areas that are outside of its control, also the local council of al-Tayyana town controls 3 oil wells near the town, and the outcome of sale is distributed to the villagers and families of the casualties in al-Tayyana.
2- al-Tank Field which is controlled by the Sharia Body in the eastern area which includes Jabhat al-Nusra (al-Qaida organization in the Levant) and the brigades and battalions that swore allegiance to it, the Islamic movement of Ahrar al-Sham and the brigades and battalions that swore allegiance to it, Jaysh al-Islam and the brigades and battalions that swore allegiance to it, the rebel and Islamic factions and brigades”, where it is currently out of service, while the Islamic brigade of Jafar al-Tayyar, the Islamic Brigade of Ibn al-Qayyim, and the Islamic Brigade of Ahl al-Athar control a group of nearby wells, which produce about 7000 barrels per day, while armed clan groups control wells far from the oil field with a total daily production of about 20000 barrels per day.
3- al-Ward Oilfield, which is also under the control of the al-Islamic brigade of Jafar al-Tayyar of the Islamic Jabha (The Islamic Front), where the field is not working except for one oil well, which produces 200 barrels per day also the field contains an oil refinery.
al-Tim Oilfield, which is controlled by the rebel factions of Deir Ezzor Military Council, which in turn formed a committee of 12 people, who are 2 people from each of the villages and towns of Muhassan, al-Mri’eyyeh, al-Toub, al-Bu Omar, al-Boleel, and Tabiyah al-Shamiyyah to supervise the sale of oil, whose income is paid to the families of casualties in these villages, and to cover the expenses of clashes which take place in the vicinity of Deir Ezzor airbase, between the rebel battalions against the regime the forces, and the production capacity of the field reaches 300 barrels per day, and the barrel is sold for 3000 SYP.
Al-Jafra oilfield which used to be controlled by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, is now under the control of the Sharia body in the eastern area, which includes al-Nusra Front (al-Qaida in the Levant), and the brigades and factions that swore allegiance to it, and the Islamic movement of Ahrar al-Sham and the brigades and factions that swore allegiance to it, and Jaysh al-Islam and the brigades and factions that swore allegiance to it, and several the rebel and Islamic factions, the field is currently suspended, while groups of the clan gunmen from Jdaydet Ekydat village control far wells with a daily production rate of about 1000 barrels per day, and the field contains tens of wells that stopped producing oil, while Jabhat al-Nusra (al-Qaeda in the Levant) has given 30 oil wells to al-Bakir clan of al-Ekydat tribe to win the loyalty of this clan, and none of these 30 well have yet been run.
Koniko gas plant which was under the control of groups of clan gunmen from Khasham village, after that they were controlled by the Sharia body in the eastern area, while the wells that are far away from Koniko gas plant; the Shariah Body and the gunmen of Khasham village agreed to give the latter one third of the total output of oil production and condensate (which is used as a substitute for gasoline”, which is produced by about 3000 barrels per day at a price of up to 15000 SYP per barrel, and the Koniko gas plant is working to produce gas and pump it to Jandar power plant in Homs, and it is pumping gas to al-Omar field to generate electricity, it also pumps gas into tanks created by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant earlier to fill household gas cylinders, where the total cylinders filled daily are about 2000 cylinders, sold for 500 SYP.
al-Kharrata oil station which is controlled by the Islamic Front, while the armed clan groups control the distant wells of al-Kharrata field, where the total production of the Islami Front which controls the field reaches 700 barrels per day, and the overall production of wells controlled by Groups of clan gunmen reaches about 200 barrels a day.
Diro Station which is controlled by the Islamic Front, while groups of gunmen from the villages of al-Sa’wa and al-Zghir control the distant wells of Diro Station, and the production capacity of the Islamic Front-controlled plant reaches 500 barrels per day, and the same number for the wells controlled by the armed clan groups of al-Sa’wa and al-Zghir villages, while differences persist between armed clan groups to control the wells of Diro Station, where about 7 gunmen were killed during clashes lasted for about two days.
T2 Station which is controlled by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant since the 10th of April 2014, after it was under the control of al-Asalah and al-Tanmiyeh Front and the Front of Ahl al-Sunnah and al-Jama’ah, and the station is located on the road of Iraqi – Syrian oil pipeline.
These sold barrels have a capacity of 225 liters, while the global capacity of a single barrel of oil is 158.98 liters, and the price of a refined gasoline barrel is between 8000 and 17000 Syrian pounds, while a liter of refined gasoline reaches more than 100 Syrian pounds. At first, the rebel and Islamic factions tried to prevent the citizens from working in oil trade and refining it, but the severity of clashes against the regime forces pushed the fighters to go towards the fronts in Deir Ezzor Province, which pushed groups of the clan gunmen to control the oil wells, and buy of heavy, medium, and light weapons to strengthen and enforce their presence and control of oil wells in Deir Ezzor countryside, which made it difficult for the rebel and Islamic factions to end the control of these clan groups over oil.
This random distribution in oil map of Deir Ezzor province and the control of various warring parties on oil plants, gas factories, oil wells, raw oil refinery operations, and the huge profits of money, have created negative results, which mostly are:
The extraction of oil is carried out randomly, which caused some wells to be completely disrupted, and the water or gas in not pumped into the inactive wells instead of oil, which creates empty spaces with the layers of the earth, threatening to cause earthquakes at the long-term and the disruption of wells in the near-term.
The spread of chest and skin diseases because of the direct contact with the oil material and refining the raw oil near the residential complexes, and because of the results of the primitive refining and combustion process.
Child labor in the field of raw oil refining, distribution, and sale.
Arming some families with heavy weapons to impose them self, domination, and control over other families in the area.
The extreme wealth of some people because of the huge revenues from selling oil and gas in the fields and wells.
The steep rise in prices of food commodities, due to the distribution of wealth on some people without others, which made the daily life of citizens harsher.
The thieves gather in armed cells and groups to cover their actions and protect themselves if they the bodies or battalions operating in their area ever considered holding them accountable.
Leaving a lot of professionals for their basic occupations and going to work in the oilfield, which created a shortage of professional work.
In a brief map of the control of influential families in the countryside of Deir Ezzor, the office of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights in Deir Ezzor Province was able to gather the following information:
At least 5 families from al-Gharanij town control more than 4 oil wells with a total production of more than 6200 barrels per day, more than 8 families from Abu Hamam to control at least 8 oil wells, with a total production of more than 13200 barrels a day, while a family from al-Hriji town controls at least one oil well which produces more than 3500 barrels a day, and at least one family from al-Shuhayl town controls more than one oil well, which produces about 1000 barrels a day, also a family of al-Sada controls a well named after them along with another family, and the production well capacity is more than 4000 barrels per day, also there are other families that control oil wells vary in production power of the well according to its size, area, and the nature of the area in which it is located, also what reaches the regime is gas from Koniko gas plant, which is pumped to Jandar Station in the countryside of Homs, which in turn generates electricity for several areas in Syria.
In the second half of 2012, the regime was able to form armed groups in Deir Ezzor countryside, they were formed in a mock groups under the name of battalions, the aim of which is to protect oil wells, oil pumping lines, and pipelines, as a precautionary measure to prevent the rebel battalions from seizing these wells, also they aim in a hidden manner to transform popular movement into a rivalry and disagreements between clans and tribes in the area, also Jafar al-Tayyar Islamic Brigade, Jabhat al-Nusra, and Ahrar al-Sham Islamic Movement owned an oil refinery, and there are many civilian investors who own small oil refineries, while some groups have worked to steal oil equipment and oil work machines of “cranes, oil pipelines, excavator heads, and precision devices”, and sold them to merchants of Turkish and Iraqi nationality, also the refined raw oil, diesel, is smuggled to Turkey through Harim town in the countryside of Idlib province, where clashes took place between a rebel front and a gasoline smugglers on the 6th of April 2014, where about 17 fighters and gunmen were killed, and the operations and attempts to control oil wells caused casualties in the ranks of both parties, also since November 2012 until now; tens of citizens have died from explosions and fires that took place in the oil areas, wells, and oil pumping pipelines, and due to the ignorance of the seriousness of handling oil material, also a number of citizens were killed as a result of shelling by the regime forces and air raids by warplanes on areas near the oil wells, gas, and oil fields in the countryside of Deir Ezzor, where 9 were killed in February 2014, at least 22 people including 6 children under the age of eighteen and several oil market guards in Abriha village in the countryside of al-Busayrah town; were killed when an Arab fighter of ISIL detonated himself with a booby-trapped car he was driving an heading to another place to detonate it, but the interception of Abriha oil market guards and forcing him to get out of the car; pushed him to detonate the booby-trapped car.