Space Travel News  
OIL AND GAS
IS earns $80 mn a month but starting to struggle: analysis
by Staff Writers
Beirut (AFP) Dec 7, 2015


The Islamic State group is pulling in some $80 million a month, mainly from levies and confiscations, but is struggling financially as strikes hit its oil infrastructure, analysis firm IHS said Monday.

In a new report, IHS Conflict Monitor said that IS, unlike other jihadist groups such as Al-Qaeda, does not need to rely on foreign funding as it can count on revenues from the large parts of Syria and Iraq under its control.

Using open source intelligence including social media and sources inside the countries, IHS said it estimates the group's overall monthly income to be around $80 million (75 million euros) as of late 2015.

About half the revenues come from levies and confiscations, with IS slapping a 20 percent charge on all services, IHS said. Some 43 percent comes from oil sales and the rest from drug smuggling, electricity sales and donations.

"IS controls the state so they tax the population, confiscate property, can produce income from state-run businesses and from oil and gas. Other terrorist groups don't have that," said Columb Strack, senior analyst at the London-based IHS.

But other groups also do not have significant territory to rule, so "it's not like they are making $80 million and spending all of that on weapons and building bombs," he told AFP.

IS seized control of significant parts of Syria and Iraq last year, declaring a self-styled Islamic "caliphate" and committing widespread atrocities.

A US-led coalition launched air strikes against the group in Iraq in August 2014 and in Syria a month later, and Moscow launched its own strikes in Syria in September this year.

The group has not followed its sweeping offensive of 2014 with other major gains and IHS said it is now having trouble making ends meet.

"There are early indications that the group is struggling to balance its budget, with reports of cuts to fighters' salaries, price hikes on electricity and other basic services, and the introduction of new agricultural taxes," IHS said.

It said the increasing targeting of oil infrastructure, including wells and tanker trucks, by US-led coalition and Russian warplanes was starting to have effect.

"Air strikes have significantly degraded the group's refining capacity and ability to transport oil via tanker convoys," IHS said.

Strack said IS was already starting to systematically charge residents for leaving its territory and, as it faces continued pressure, will be looking for other ways to raise funds.

"They can also try to raise the price of electricity, mobile phone networks, Internet and all kind of public services they are expected to provide," he said.

"But people are already struggling to pay. It's going to be a lot harder on the populations living within IS territories."


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


.


Related Links
All About Oil and Gas News at OilGasDaily.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

Previous Report
OIL AND GAS
Parts of Texas economy slowing, but beating out nation
Houston (UPI) Dec 4, 2015
Parts of the oil-rich economy in Texas are showing signs of slowing down, but still outperforming the rest of the nation, the Dallas Federal Reserve said. A survey from the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers said the number of jobs lost in the state as a result of the depressed oil economy may be worse than initially forecast. Lower crude oil prices have hurt the corporate profits for m ... read more


OIL AND GAS
DXL-2: Studying X-ray emissions in space

Arianespace selected to launch Azerspace-2/Intelsat 38 satellites

"Cyg"-nificant Science Launching to Space Station

Flight teams prepare for LISA Pathfinder liftoff

OIL AND GAS
Letter to Mars? Royal Mail works it out for British boy, 5

European payload selected for ExoMars 2018 surface platform

ExoMars has historical, practical significance for Russia, Europe

ExoMars prepares to leave Europe for launch site

OIL AND GAS
Gaia's sensors scan a lunar transit

SwRI scientists explain why moon rocks contain fewer volatiles than Earth's

All-female Russian crew starts Moon mission test

Russian moon mission would need 4 Angara-A5V launches

OIL AND GAS
New Horizons documents one rotation of Charon

Tyson weighs in on New Horizons' Pluto discoveries

Composite images compare sunlit faces of Pluto

Astronomers spot most distant object in the solar system

OIL AND GAS
What kinds of stars form rocky planets

Half of Kepler's giant exoplanet candidates are false positives

Exiled exoplanet likely kicked out of star's neighborhood

Neptune-size exoplanet around a red dwarf star

OIL AND GAS
Progress continues on test version of SLS Connection Hardware

Laser Power: Russia develops energy beam for satellite refueling

Blue Origin lands booster rocket

US Engine Dilemma: No Space Without Moscow

OIL AND GAS
China's indigenous SatNav performing well after tests

China launches Yaogan-29 remote sensing satellite

China's scientific satellites to enter uncharted territory

China to launch Dark Matter Satellite in mid-December

OIL AND GAS
Japan asteroid probe conducts 'Earth swing-by' in space quest

New law establishes ownership rights for space minerals

Who owns space

NEOWISE observes carbon gases in comets









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.