ISIS oil revenue drops by more than 90% – USA Today
The Islamic State’s oil revenues have decreased by more than 90% over the past two years, USA Today reports.
Islamic State oil production in Iraq and Syria has been cut to less than $4 million a month from a peak of $50 million, according to statistics the coalition provided to USA TODAY.
“Losing half their revenues means a lot,” Andrew Tabler, an analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said of the oil money. “Their territory is shrinking and so is their ability to tax people,” Tabler said.
The Islamic State captured valuable oil producing regions, including the Bayji refinery in Iraq and the oil-rich Deir al-Zour region in eastern Syria, when the militants rose to prominence in 2014.
