Iranian Oil Tankers Send 6.8 Million Barrels to Syria

Syria is an eager customer for excess oil supply

According to trackers, Iran has send a large convoy of oil tankers to Syria, carrying an estimated 6.8 million barrels of oil, a huge amount for both Iran, who often struggles to find customers, and Syria who often struggles to find sellers.

War-torn Syria is a natural oil customer for Iran, and with prices low and China cutting back on its purchases, Iran seems to have decided to make a large amount available to Syria, despite US sanctions which are aimed at precluding such trade.

How this much larger trade is being paid for is anyone’s guess, but the glut in global oil supply likely made everyone decide it was comparatively less risky to make a trade right now, as opposed to later.

Though Syria would normally be a net exporter of oil, albeit a small one, the war has cut their production drastically, and one of the main oil fields is being occupied by the US, with President Trump saying he intends to keep the oil for the US.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.