Iraq is losing more than $102 million each month because the IS militant group—aka ISIL that controls large parts of the country—is selling stolen oil, according to a parliamentary report issued Wednesday.
The report states that, on a monthly basis, the militant group is selling some 1.27 million barrels of oil seized from the country’s oil wells.
“ISIL currently controls six of the country’s oil wells, from which it is producing 1.27 million barrels of oil,” MP Ahmed Haji Rashid said, World Bulletin reported.
According to Rashid, IS is hurting the country in two different ways—“by selling oil at $30 per barrel with which it purchases weapons.”
“This is how it maintains its existence, causing double harm to the country,” he said.
Recent weeks have seen clashes between IS militants and Iraqi security forces over the Baiji oil refinery—one of Iraq’s largest oil facilities—in the Saladin province north of Baghdad.
Iraq has struggled with a security vacuum since June of last year, when IS overran the northern city of Mosul.
