Oil Race In Syria And Iraq

South Front:

The defeat of ISIS and the demise of this quasi-state is going to change the conflicts in Iraq and Syria. The conflicts between the previously neutral or previously partnered sides now take center stage. In the last months we saw tensions rising between the Syrian Arab Army and Syrian Democratic Forces, between Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan, between Russia and the US. These conflicts are rooted in both economic and military-political reasons. The Caliphate’s defeat would bring a scenario where all the sides that had come into control of certain territories by military means would try to keep them during the post-war negotiations concerning the fate of Syria and Iraq. The struggle for cementing the positions leads the sides to race for control of territories with strategic or economic value. Syria is a clear example of this, with the race to Resafa or with the race to the Syrian-Iranian border circumventing At Tanf leading to clashes between Russia-backed and the US-backed forces. We see it now with the race for the oil of Deir ez-Zor province. Despite all the territorial or strategic needs, the oil is the lynchpin in all this. The oil is a chief concern for Russia and the US from an economical standpoint, hence the presence of Russian and US oil companies in the region. There is nothing surprising about the fact that the key events in these wars are playing out near the largest oil fields formerly controlled by the Caliphate, and that oil would play an important part in forming the borders of the post-war establishment in the region.



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