Kurds share oil with Syrian gov't as part of a 'working deal' - source

In keeping with the accord, inked a few months ago, “the Kurds are extracting 50,000 barrels of crude each day at al-Rmeilan and Jabsah oilfields.

One third of this is sent to government-operated refinery in Homs while the rest is processed on site at a local refinery,” the source said.

There is reason to believe that the Kurds are pumping more oil illegally, the source said, adding that prior to the war, the al-Rmeilan oilfield provided 160,000 million barrels of crude, while now the figure is down to just 38,000.

At the al-Jabsah oilfield daily output is down to 12,000 barrels, from 30,000 before the war started.

According to the source, the Syrian government is set to liberate the entire territory of the country and control all its oil reserves.

He mentioned the great deal of across-the-board assistance that the country is getting from its Russian partners, above all military assistance in the ongoing fight against terrorism.

He also spoke about the prospects of wide-ranging cooperation with Russia in rebuilding Syria’s war-torn oil sector.

He mentioned two contracts for Russia to invest in the extraction of 5.2 million tons of phosphates in Syria and assured that the two countries will be building up cooperation in prospecting for and extraction of mineral resources using modern technology and the expertise of the two countries’ in this field.

Russian companies have received requests from Syria to help rebuild its oil and gas industry and have been given priority in the restoration of the country following the civil war.

Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad has said that that Damascus will lean primarily on Russia, China and Iran in rebuilding the country after five years of destruction.