Sunday, April 24, 2016

The Rise And Fall Of The Islamic State’s Oil Man

Islamic State oil man Abu Sayyaf, shown in an undated photograph seized in a U.S. military raid in Syria, counts cash. He was the terror group's No. 2 oil executive in Syria, where he built a profitable network of traders and wholesalers who bought stolen crude.

Wall Street JournalThe Rise and Deadly Fall of Islamic State’s Oil Tycoon

A document trove tells how Abu Sayyaf ran the terror group’s operations; approving expenses for slaves, dodging U.S. airstrikes.

Islamic State oil man Abu Sayyaf was riding high a year ago. With little industry experience, he had built a network of traders and wholesalers of Syrian oil that at one point helped triple energy revenues for his terrorist bosses.

His days carried challenges familiar to all oil executives—increasing production, improving client relations and dodging directives from headquarters. He also had duties unique to the extremist group, including approving expenses to cover the upkeep of slaves, rebuilding oil facilities damaged by U.S. airstrikes and counting towers of cash.

Last May, U.S. Special Forces killed Abu Sayyaf, a nom de guerre, at his compound in Syria’s Deir Ezzour province. The raid also captured a trove of proprietary data that explains how Islamic State became the world’s wealthiest terror group.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: This is a must read. It is a fascinating look on how the Islamic State manages its oil empire. As for the link to the story, it is to Google .... this is one way to by-pass the Wall Street Journal's pay-wall.

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