Iraq is building up debts to the oil companies developing its giant fields, industry sources said, a further sign of how the oil-price drop is putting a squeeze on revenues in OPEC's second-largest producer.
The Libyan national oil company declared 11 oil fields nonoperational because of “theft, looting, sabotage and destruction” by “unidentified armed groups,” the company said in a statement late Wednesday.
Syrian government forces have managed to wrest full control of an oil field after they engaged foreign-sponsored terrorists in the crisis-stricken Arab country’s western province of Homs.
A key source of funding for the Islamic State is illicit oil trafficking, which has led to huge financial losses for the affected oil companies, according to recent reports.
A proposed U.N. resolution to crack down on the financing of terrorist groups calls for sanctions on individuals and companies trading oil produced by the Islamic State and other al-Qaida-linked groups.