by debkaFile
Pressing on with their offensive against the Islamic State after capturing Raqqa
US-backed Syrian Kurdish militias reported Sunday,
Oct. 22, the capture of Syria’s biggest oil field of al-Omar in the
eastern Deir Ez-Zour province.
They were pressing on with their offensive against
the Islamic State after capturing Raqqa. Al-Omar is located on the
eastern bank of the Euphrates River. The Kurds’ takeover pre-empted its
grab by a mixed force of Russian-backed Syrian army contingents and
Hizballah, which had halted 6 km short of al-Omar.
While in the hands of ISIS, this field pumped up to 10,000 barrels today and is capable of producing up to 40,000 bpd. If repaired and brought up to scratch, it could potentially yield up to 120,000 bpd.
It now turns out that the Russian command’s secret order to the Syrian/Hizballah forces, exclusively reported by DEBKAfile last week, to halt where they stood after capturing Mayadin in eastern Syria from ISIS – and not advance on the oil field – was prompted by unpublished talks between US and Russian officers in the area.
The officers reached a deal on the disposition of
these oil fields. Under that deal, it was decided to award the Syrian
Kurdish YPG militia the richest Syrian field as a prize for its role in
leading the SDF in the capture of ISIS’ de facto capital of Raqqa..
DEBKAfile’s sources add that Washington felt that
the Kurds also deserved to be compensated for their Iraqi brothers’ loss
of the Kirkuk oil city, which was seized last week by an Iraqi force
boosted by pro-Iranian Shiite militias. The loss of Kirkuk to Baghdad
and Tehran has deprived the Kurdish Regional Government of Iraq of the
income from 600,000 barrels of oil a day. The al-Omar field produces a
much smaller amount, but its revenue would save the KRG from economic
meltdown.
Sources in Damascus, disgruntled over the handover
of al-Omar to the Kurds, accused the Syrian Arab tribes who fought in
Raqqa of backing the Kurdish militia’s claim to the oil field. They also
suggested that ISIS opted to surrender the oil field to the Sunni
Kurds, rather than letting it fall into the hands of Assad’s Alawi
regime.
Russia’s consent to hand over Syria’s biggest oil
field to pro-American Kurds was calculated to yield a quid pro quo in
the form of Washington’s support for the Russian oil giant Rosneft
taking control of the Kurdish oil pipeline from the KRG via Turkey to
the Mediterranean.
Last Thursday, the state-controlled Rosneft reported a deal with the KRG to take majority control of 60 percent in the operation of this pipeline project.
The Iraqi government has demanded clarifications for Moscow’s step.
debkaFile
Source: https://www.debka.com/kurds-win-syrian-oil-secret-us-russian-deal-prize-raqqa/
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