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Western Kurdistan Oil & Gas Developments
Topic Started: Dec 2 12, 1:54 (18,811 Views)
ALAN
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Syrian Kurds Keep Eye on Country's Oil

Rudaw

ERBIL, South Kurdistan -- The oil fields in the resource-rich province of Hasaka account for more than half of Syria’s 370,000 barrels a day. Although Hasaka is 60 percent Kurdish, the Kurds have not benefited from the oil.

Syrian Kurds hope to profit from the oil in the future like the KRG Kurds were able to. However, most Syrian Kurdish parties have yet to put in place a plan for what to do about it.

Both the Democratic Unity Party (PYD) and Kurdish National Council (KNC) confirm that they have not discussed the issue during negotiations, unlike the KRG Kurds who managed to attract many foreign companies after the fall of Saddam Hussein.

According to a report by the Turkish think tank ORSAM, despite the fact that Hasaka is the richest part of Syria in terms of oil resources, there is no investment in the area due to government policies. In addition, says the report, “Arabs were placed within the Kurdish population through strategic projects and an aim to establish a demographic balance.”

Azad Mustafa, a Kurd from the city Amude, told Rudaw that Kurds have not benefited from the oil. “We have Kurds working in the oil industry, but only a few and not in manager positions. They prefer Arabs, not Kurds, even though the oil is in our lands,” he said. “When there is oil in Erbil, we have priority -- not Baghdad or Mosul. But in Syria, it is not like that.”

Fifty percent of the oil block in Hasaka was being operated by Gulfsands, a London-listed company, covering an area of 5,414 square kilometers. Oil payments were made to Rami Makhlouf, the first cousin of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Following the imposition of EU sanctions on Sept. 2, 2011, production by Gulfsands fell from 14,500 barrels per day (bpd) to 6,000 in October 2011. Production was completely shut down in March 2012 as a result of sanctions targeting Syria’s economy. It is unlikely the company will get any of its money back from the Syrian government.

But an anonymous production manager working for the state Syrian Petroleum Company told Executive Magazine that the Syrian regime still operates the field without Gulfsands. “Before the war, the nearby fields were producing 166,000 bpd. As of September, due to the civil war and international sanctions on Syrian oil, only 80,000 bpd were being produced.”

Furthermore, Jihad Yazigi, editor of The Syria Report, told Executive Magazine that Hasaka’s oil could easily sustain the life of the 2 million people living in the area, “if you manage to produce and sell 50,000 barrels per day.”

Reports indicate that although much of Hasaka province is controlled by the PYD’s armed group, the People’s Defence Units (YPG), the regime still operates the oil fields and controls the security.

According to a recent report on the Kurdish news website Welati, the oil city of Remelan has been surrounded by Assad forces and handed over to Arab tribes.

Alan Semo, the foreign representative of the PYD, told Rudaw that the natural resources in Hasaka belong to the Rojava people -- people living in Syrian Kurdistan -- and that therefore “the YPG and the Kurdish Supreme Council [joint council of the PYD and KNC] are protecting it from attacks and violence, and once the regime loses control the supreme council will take over and distribute it fairly.”

Semo told Rudaw that the resources are still under the control of the regime. “But the distribution and regulation in the region is run by Kurds. We don’t want the Free Syrian Army (FSA) to come in and bomb it. We don’t want to ruin the infrastructure of the country and have the FSA take it for themselves.”

According to Semo, these resources do not belong not to Assad or the FSA; “they belong to the people.”

Members of the KNC are critical of the PYD’s actions. Earlier this month, Mustafa Juma, secretary of the Kurdish Freedom Party (Azadî), alleged that “there is a secret agreement between the PYD and the Syrian government.”

He stated that the “Syrian government is paying the PYD to protect these wells.”

Juma told Rudaw that the KNC does not have any concrete plans for the resources. “There are no direct plans. They have to think about this. The problem is the PYD itself is in control on the ground and they don’t let anybody interfere,” he said.

Moreover, Ismail Hame, secretary of the Kurdish Unity Party and also a member of the KNC, told Rudaw also that the YPG controls the oil fields and that they have not discussed this issue in recent negotiations. “We [Kurds] are not benefiting from the gas and oil [in Hasaka]. But maybe in the future,” he said.

Mohammed Mustafa, a member of the Kurdish Youth Movement (TCK), told Rudaw that the oil fields are still under operation and the oil is being sent all over Syria. “They pump the oil and sent it to Homs and Baniyas. Nobody has attacked the pipelines yet,” he said.

The PYD has been criticized over the way the YPG is controlling Al-Malikiyah (also known as Dêrika Hemko in Kurdish), 28 kilometers from the oil fields of Remelan. Two weeks ago, the YPG kicked out most of the remaining security units in Derek in order to prevent the FSA from having any excuse for taking over the area.

Both the PYD and Assad have denied any cooperation in interviews.

A Syrian German blogger told Rudaw that he was disappointed that the YPG had not stopped the oil flow. “Considering the size of YPG forces in Derek, the fact that the regime still refines oil from Remelan is very disappointing,” he said. “The regime is cash-strapped as is. If they lose these fields, it’ll be extremely hard for them to keep themselves afloat financially.”

Sinem Mohammed, co-president of the PYD-affiliated People’s Council of West Kurdistan (PCWK), told Rudaw that allegations that the YPG is protecting the field in a deal with Assad are not true.

“Remelan is still under government control,” Mohammed said. “We do not control it. It is not true. We do not have money. We do not have any support of any government or any other places. Our support comes from our own people.”

Moreover, Mohammed added that the PCWK did not discuss the issue of gas and oil resources in Hasaka during negotiations with the KNC in Erbil.

Sheikh Nawaf al-Bashir, who was part of the rebel offensive on Nov. 9 that captured the town of Ras al-Ayn (Sere Kaniye), told Reuters that the FSA had plans to move into Hasaka in order to cut off the oil going to the Syrian government.

“The economic pipeline from Deir Ezzor has already been stopped. The FSA will receive a boost by moving into the oil and agriculture region of Hasaka," he said.

Recently, rebels captured two major oil fields in Deir Ezzor which they will sell back to the population. But the PYD and the KNC do not want the rebels to enter the area, and after fighting between the Islamist rebels and the YPG in Ras al-Ayn, both sides have agreed to a ceasefire, which makes it more complicated for the Syrian rebels to move into other cities in Hasaka province.

Hame told Rudaw, “We refuse to have the FSA come to our areas. We can work together and have an agreement with each other.”

Talal Ibrahim Pasha, part of the foreign relations committee of the KNC, told Rudaw that the situation cannot be compared to South Kurdistan. “In Syria, it is more complicated. There are Arabs in the area. I think Hasaka consists of 35 or 40 percent Arabs and other minorities. It is difficult [for Kurds] to control the area easily.”

On the other hand, Khaled Khoja, a member of the Syrian National Council (SNC), told Rudaw that the Syrian opposition wants to share the resources of the area with all of Syria.

“The SNC has issued two documents: a national covenant of the new Syria and a road map of the transitional period in Syria. In these documents, the SNC emphasized equal rights and fair sharing of the wealth of the Syrian people under one united state.”

Sipan Sieda, who is close to the SNC and the cousin of its former leader, Dr. Abdulbasit Sieda, told Rudaw that the Kurds want to be part of the future government.

“We want to take our rights but in a new constitution,” he said. “In the constitution, we will share the benefits. The Kurds are very poor, but the situation will change in the future.”
Russian Girenak Joseph, who visited Kirkuk in Kurdistan as a part of his tour throu the 1870 - 1873 AD, who published the results of his trip & his studies later in 1879, in the 4th volume in the Bulletin of the Caucasus department of the Royal Geographical Russian Society estimated Kirkuk's population as many as 12-50,000 people, & he emphasized that except 40 Christian families, the rest of the population were Kurds. As for The Turkmen & Arabs, they have not been already existed at the time.
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Kinematik
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So Alan, what can you tell me about the atrush field and the "standoff" is it all for Malikis personal gain in upcoming elactions?

Best
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ALAN
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Kinematik
Dec 27 12, 7:39
So Alan, what can you tell me about the atrush field and the "standoff" is it all for Malikis personal gain in upcoming elactions?

Best
Atrush oil field is far from malikis recent militia deployment , as its located in kurdish mosul, maliki had few reasons, one he wanted to get votes of Arabs Sunnis in Kirkuk hawija disctct thus he sent his militia to south and west of Kirkuk province , and forced an armed gang and named it dijla but to his surprise Kurdistan sent in heavy deployment of its armed forces and made Maliki think twice about even thinking of taking any land that are Kurdish but outside KRG's administrations , so he had three reasons behind his plan, one to get sunnis votes for upcoming elections, two to disrupt the public complaints about the corrupted government he is leadng and his recent corruption in the russians arms deal, and last to try and disable article 140 of the iraqi consitutuio which calls for referendum for the kurdish areas that are outside KRG wether they would join Kurdistan or iraq, but it failed specially now the Sunnis in Anbar and Diyala are protesting and have threatened to take up arms this will make these areas annexed to KRG without further delays. And Kurds will never abandon that article no matter who is the PM of Iraq.

Posted Image
Russian Girenak Joseph, who visited Kirkuk in Kurdistan as a part of his tour throu the 1870 - 1873 AD, who published the results of his trip & his studies later in 1879, in the 4th volume in the Bulletin of the Caucasus department of the Royal Geographical Russian Society estimated Kirkuk's population as many as 12-50,000 people, & he emphasized that except 40 Christian families, the rest of the population were Kurds. As for The Turkmen & Arabs, they have not been already existed at the time.
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Kinematik
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Alan131210
Dec 27 12, 8:37
Kinematik
Dec 27 12, 7:39
So Alan, what can you tell me about the atrush field and the "standoff" is it all for Malikis personal gain in upcoming elactions?

Best
Atrush oil field is far from malikis recent militia deployment , as its located in kurdish mosul, maliki had few reasons, one he wanted to get votes of Arabs Sunnis in Kirkuk hawija disctct thus he sent his militia to south and west of Kirkuk province , and forced an armed gang and named it dijla but to his surprise Kurdistan sent in heavy deployment of its armed forces and made Maliki think twice about even thinking of taking any land that are Kurdish but outside KRG's administrations , so he had three reasons behind his plan, one to get sunnis votes for upcoming elections, two to disrupt the public complaints about the corrupted government he is leadng and his recent corruption in the russians arms deal, and last to try and disable article 140 of the iraqi consitutuio which calls for referendum for the kurdish areas that are outside KRG wether they would join Kurdistan or iraq, but it failed specially now the Sunnis in Anbar and Diyala are protesting and have threatened to take up arms this will make these areas annexed to KRG without further delays. And Kurds will never abandon that article no matter who is the PM of Iraq.

Posted Image
Ok! Thanks! Very helpful

Do you think it Will cool down now? Maliki wasnt present when this last agreement took place with Osama Nujeifi, correct?


Have you heard any rumors about atrush? How big can it be? Is it connected to neighbouring fields Akri-Bijeel and Sarsang? Ive read that they found oil on trend with atrush in Akri Bijeel and they are drilling in line with the atrush wells in The sarsang block also
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ALAN
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^^ you are in the wrong section :D ill answer it in SK section
Russian Girenak Joseph, who visited Kirkuk in Kurdistan as a part of his tour throu the 1870 - 1873 AD, who published the results of his trip & his studies later in 1879, in the 4th volume in the Bulletin of the Caucasus department of the Royal Geographical Russian Society estimated Kirkuk's population as many as 12-50,000 people, & he emphasized that except 40 Christian families, the rest of the population were Kurds. As for The Turkmen & Arabs, they have not been already existed at the time.
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ALAN
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Can Syria’s Kurds Protect Their Oil Fields?

ERBIL Kurdistan Region – Can Syria’s Kurds use the oil reserves in their territories as leverage to strengthen their position after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime?

Most of the oil-rich places in Syria, including the Rumilan fields, are located in the Kurdish territories, and some people believe that the fields should be protected at all cost as an important insurance for the Kurds in the future.

Located in Syrian Kurdistan, Rumilan produces 270,000 barrels of oil a day, more than half of Syria’s total crude output. Syria’s daily production of 385,000 barrels goes not figure on the global energy map, but its total reserves of 2.5 million barrels are still reportedly 2 percent of the world’s reserves.

Even though most of Syria’s oil lies in Kurdish territories, no oil refineries have been built there: The crude from Rumilan is piped to refineries in Humos and Banyas.

“President Bashar al-Assad’s regime has oppressed the Kurds politically as well as economically,” said Abdulhakim Bashar, secretary-general of the Kurdish Democratic Party in Syria. “The natural resources are being transferred to other Arab cities for refining.”

The oil fields discovered in Kurdish territories during the 1960s led to major demographic changes in Syrian Kurdistan.

“If it was not for the natural resources, the current boundaries would have been a lot different today.” said oil expert Rebwar Khinsy. “The Kurdish residents around the oil-rich fields were forced to leave and replaced by Arabs, so it remains to be seen whether the fate of Rumilan will turn out like the disputed oil-rich city Kirkuk in northern Iraq after Assad’s fall,” he said.

Bashar said that, “Rumilan has always been part of Kurdistan and it will not become Kirkuk. There may be a couple of oil fields outside Rumilan where both Kurds and Arabs live. Other than those, the rest of the Rumilan oil fields are in the heart of Kurdish territories.”

Syria’s infrastructure has been badly hurt by the conflict between the regime and opposition forces, which began nearly two years ago. Some believe it could take at least 10 years to rebuild the country, but add that the infrastructure in the country’s Kurdish regions is still relatively good and was not badly affected by the war.

Salih Muslim, co-leader of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party of Syria (PYD), told Rudaw that, “The Kurds support the fall of the regime, but they don’t want to see the whole country go down. That’s why they will protect the Rumilan oil fields.”

Abdulmajid Tamir, a member of the Kurdish Youth movement in Syria, believes, “The Kurds must do everything they can to prevent the Rumilan oil fields from being set on fire.”

He said that the regime might hold its position for several years and the Syrian Kurdistan might stay independent during this time, so it is important for the Kurds to take advantage of this and make preparations to operate Rumilan, as everything is still in place, except for oil refineries.

“The attempts by the Islamic radical groups to control Serekaniye (Ras al-Ain) is mostly for Rumilan,”

said Razwan Badini, a university professor. “They try to infiltrate the Kurdish territories through a multi-ethnic place like Serekaniye and finally control a strategic location like Rumilan,” he said.
Russian Girenak Joseph, who visited Kirkuk in Kurdistan as a part of his tour throu the 1870 - 1873 AD, who published the results of his trip & his studies later in 1879, in the 4th volume in the Bulletin of the Caucasus department of the Royal Geographical Russian Society estimated Kirkuk's population as many as 12-50,000 people, & he emphasized that except 40 Christian families, the rest of the population were Kurds. As for The Turkmen & Arabs, they have not been already existed at the time.
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ALAN
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reUrEOZhuWk
Russian Girenak Joseph, who visited Kirkuk in Kurdistan as a part of his tour throu the 1870 - 1873 AD, who published the results of his trip & his studies later in 1879, in the 4th volume in the Bulletin of the Caucasus department of the Royal Geographical Russian Society estimated Kirkuk's population as many as 12-50,000 people, & he emphasized that except 40 Christian families, the rest of the population were Kurds. As for The Turkmen & Arabs, they have not been already existed at the time.
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Qandil
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Hehe, I posted that video on LiveLeak. :-P
"Kurdino! Bibin yek; eger hûn nebin yek, hûn ê herin yek bi yek." - Cigerxwîn.
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ALAN
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Kurdish forces takes over oil fields in Syrian Kurdistan

Posted Image

March 8, 2013

In the beginning of March, a Kurdish militia took over oil fields and installations in northeastern Syria, declaring their willingness to share the resources with the Syrian opposition if the Kurds would get their own share.

With the ongoing civil war between Syrian government forces and Arab rebels, a Syrian Kurdish party called the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its militia, the Kurdish People’s Defence Units (YPG), are increasingly using the power vacuum to create a form of Kurdish autonomy similar to that which Iraqi Kurds enjoy.

The PYD has set up local councils, security forces and Kurdish-language schools, creating a parallel government in the north of Syria.

The YPG took control over Tall ʿAdas on Jan. 21, after fighting with the Syrian Army. In March, the YPG took control of Ramalan and the oil fields south of the city of al-Qahtaniya without firing a shot after surrounding regime forces there for a days.

Mohammed Reso, a PYD spokesperson based in the neighboring Kurdistan Region of Iraq, told Al-Monitor that the People’s Defence Units now control most of the Kurdish areas in Syria, adding, “Maybe Qamishli is 40% under government control, the rest we control.”

The PYD, which is allied to the militant Kurdistan Workers Party in Turkey, denies that connection. But despite this, Turkey remains worried and accuses the group of cooperating with the President Bashar al-Assad government of Syria.

On Feb. 25, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed that Ankara will not allow a separate Kurdish political entity in northern Syria, reported Zaman.

This statement followed a cease-fire agreement between rebels of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and the YPG in the mixed city of Ras al-Ain near the Turkish border, where they met to coordinate their movements and establish joint checkpoints to avoid tensions. This agreement was supported by the Syrian opposition, but did not include any discussions about sharing the oil resources of northern Syria.

Therefore, despite fights between the YPG and the armed Syrian opposition in the past, the YPG declared in a statement that only the main Syrian opposition group, the Syrian National Initiative, and the Supreme Kurdish Council, a body uniting various Kurdish political factions including the PYD, have the right to discuss the future of resources in the oil-rich province of Hasakah.

“Only the Supreme Kurdish Council and the National Syrian Coalition have the right to debate about the Syrian Oil Company,” the general command of the YPG said in a statement.

The Syrian Petroleum Company was left operating the field after foreign oil companies pulled out of Syria after the imposition of sanctions. The YPG said they would protect the oil installations in the future against any armed group trying to loot the resources, since the field is a "national institution belonging to the sons of the Syrian people."

“The liberation of the town of Ramalan is of great importance in the framework of the liberation of the cities of west Kurdistan [Syria’s Kurdish areas] [...] since this oil wealth has been stolen over the years without benefitting the Kurdish people,” the YPG said, referring to the period during which Syrian government controlled the oil resources.

Alan Semo, a representative of the PYD based in the United Kingdom, told Al-Monitor that the Kurds plan to share the resources with the rest of Syria. The PYD wants to prevent accusations that the Kurds want to separate from Syria.

“In an agreement with a future Syrian government, the Kurds are running their areas. The oil is for all of Syria. We are part of Syria — we do not take the oil, we want to take our share in an agreement between all Kurds, Arabs and Syrian people.”

Moreover, Semo said it is possible that in a future agreement, the Kurds can supply the "liberated areas" controlled by the FSA with oil.

But rivals of the PYD have accused the party of making an agreement with the regime in the past and protecting its oil fields.

Mustafa Cumma, a leader of the Kurdish Freedom Party, one of the Kurdish rivals to the PYD, told Al-Monitor that the PYD “took control of Ramalan and Tirbespi, but still many places are under government control. It is like the PYD has gotten permission from them.”

Sirwan Kajjo, a Syrian-Kurdish journalist based in Washington, DC, confirmed this. “As far as I know, [the PYD] control everything. The thing is all fields have stopped working. But there are still regime forces close to those areas.”

He added, “PYD will eventually share them with the opposition unless something unpredictable happens. I believe the PYD's control of these fields is temporary. Things would change when Assad has departed. But I expect some more infighting between the PYD and local Arab FSA fighters.”

Moreover, it is unclear if the Syrian opposition can use the heavy oil without controlling Homs. Robin Mills, an energy strategist and economist based in Dubai, thinks the oil cannot be used without being refined. In the past, the oil of Hasakah was sent from al-Qahtaniya through a pipeline to Banyas and Homs, were it was refined.

“It's heavy oil, which isn't good for much unless refined. Perhaps it could be burned for heat. Otherwise, it could be smuggled into Turkey or Iraqi Kurdistan and sold for a few dollars. Given a bit more time, they could set up a teapot refinery to skim off some products.”

The PYD might have no choice but to share the natural resources with the future Syrian government. Negotiations between the Kurds and Damascus could be as troublesome as they are in neighboring Iraq.

Moaz al Khatib, the leader of the Syrian opposition body the Syrian National Initiative, told the Turkish daily Milliyet that the division of Syria "is a red line," but they are willing to discuss with the Kurds in the future how to govern Syria.

Wladimir van Wilgenburg is a political analyst specializing in issues surrounding on Kurdish politics. He has written extensively for Jamestown Foundation publications and other journals such as the Near East Quarterly and the World Affairs Journal.

Copyright ©, respective author or news agency, al-monitor.com
Russian Girenak Joseph, who visited Kirkuk in Kurdistan as a part of his tour throu the 1870 - 1873 AD, who published the results of his trip & his studies later in 1879, in the 4th volume in the Bulletin of the Caucasus department of the Royal Geographical Russian Society estimated Kirkuk's population as many as 12-50,000 people, & he emphasized that except 40 Christian families, the rest of the population were Kurds. As for The Turkmen & Arabs, they have not been already existed at the time.
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Brendar
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Syrian Kurds Bank on Big Oil Reserves

Qamishli – Several days ago, the Popular Protection Units (YPG), a Kurdish militia in Syria, declared that it had seized three cities with adjoining oil fields, most notably Rumeilan. Kurdish militants took control of the cities without “shedding one drop of blood.”

In the meantime, reports have been leaked indicating that the Syrian regime may be planning a withdrawal from the northeastern city of Qamishli sometime in March.

According to these reports, the Kurdish militias are preparing to take control of Qamishli, considered to be the center of Syria’s Kurdish population both demographically and politically.

It is worth noting that the Syrian regime considers Qamishli’s airport a significant military asset. This explains why the YPG has their sights set on the airport, as the Kurdish militia is planning to impose control over what it calls “Western Kurdistan.”


The progress made on the field by the Kurdish militia has coincided with brigades from the Free Syrian Army (FSA) seizing the city of Tal Hamis, about 20 miles south of Qamishli. The majority of these FSA brigades are made up of fighters from the Arab tribes in the region of Hasaka.

These developments coincided with the FSA’s declaration that it has taken control of the northern city of Raqqa. This means that the regime’s regional presence is now limited to the city of Hasaka.

Kurdish sources told Al-Akhbar that the YPG was quick to seize so-called “Kurdish areas” from the regime, “so that there would be no pretext for an attack by opposition brigades on these areas.” Despite these developments, the fate of Hasaka remains uncertain, at least in the foreseeable future.

Informed observers believe that the YPG and FSA, having snatched the territory lost by the regime, may soon clash with one another. For one thing, the Kurds are now closer to “achieving their dream,” while the FSA, which is close to the Justice and Development administration in Turkey, will want to try to abort any plans that could undermine Ankara’s interests.

The Turkish government is closely monitoring these developments. Ankara is apprehensive about Kurdish “self-rule” in Syria, a concern that is further fueled by the fact that Kurds control nearly all the country’s oil fields.


Indeed, a 2009 study from the University of Damascus revealed that in addition to Syria’s 69 billion barrels worth of proven oil reserves, it had about 315 billion barrels of undiscovered reserves. Most of these oil fields are located along Syria’s northeast border with Turkey.

In a statement, the YPG said that “only the High Kurdish Council and the Syrian National Coalition have the right to hold discussions over the Syrian Petroleum Company (SPC).”

The same statement asserts that the Kurdish militia is to provide protection to the SPC, the largest oil company in Syria which employs nearly 6,000. The YPG also vowed that it would not interfere in the company’s internal affairs.

Syrian Kurds were quoted in the media as saying that seizing the oil facilities was to be expected, as they are the “rightful inheritors of the land.”

“After years of deprivation, now is the time for Kurds to assert their right to take advantage of these resources.”

In the same vein, some believe that if Syrian Kurds manage to obtain autonomy, they may be able to develop “a kind of independence similar to i-rack.”

Other observers believe these developments will mean that the Kurds will have de facto control over the majority of oil fields in Syria. This, they say, may prove to be one of the biggest sources of dispute between Arabs and Kurds in the “new Syria.”

http://www.publici.com/content/syrian-kurds-bank-big-oil-reserves
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delan chalak
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A L A N
Mar 9 13, 12:01
Kurdish forces takes over oil fields in Syrian Kurdistan

Posted Image

March 8, 2013

In the beginning of March, a Kurdish militia took over oil fields and installations in northeastern Syria, declaring their willingness to share the resources with the Syrian opposition if the Kurds would get their own share.

With the ongoing civil war between Syrian government forces and Arab rebels, a Syrian Kurdish party called the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its militia, the Kurdish People’s Defence Units (YPG), are increasingly using the power vacuum to create a form of Kurdish autonomy similar to that which i-racki Kurds enjoy.

The PYD has set up local councils, security forces and Kurdish-language schools, creating a parallel government in the north of Syria.

The YPG took control over Tall ʿAdas on Jan. 21, after fighting with the Syrian Army. In March, the YPG took control of Ramalan and the oil fields south of the city of al-Qahtaniya without firing a shot after surrounding regime forces there for a days.

Mohammed Reso, a PYD spokesperson based in the neighboring Kurdistan Region of i-rack, told Al-Monitor that the People’s Defence Units now control most of the Kurdish areas in Syria, adding, “Maybe Qamishli is 40% under government control, the rest we control.”

The PYD, which is allied to the militant Kurdistan Workers Party in Turkey, denies that connection. But despite this, Turkey remains worried and accuses the group of cooperating with the President Bashar al-Assad government of Syria.

On Feb. 25, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed that Ankara will not allow a separate Kurdish political entity in northern Syria, reported Zaman.

This statement followed a cease-fire agreement between rebels of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and the YPG in the mixed city of Ras al-Ain near the Turkish border, where they met to coordinate their movements and establish joint checkpoints to avoid tensions. This agreement was supported by the Syrian opposition, but did not include any discussions about sharing the oil resources of northern Syria.

Therefore, despite fights between the YPG and the armed Syrian opposition in the past, the YPG declared in a statement that only the main Syrian opposition group, the Syrian National Initiative, and the Supreme Kurdish Council, a body uniting various Kurdish political factions including the PYD, have the right to discuss the future of resources in the oil-rich province of Hasakah.

“Only the Supreme Kurdish Council and the National Syrian Coalition have the right to debate about the Syrian Oil Company,” the general command of the YPG said in a statement.

The Syrian Petroleum Company was left operating the field after foreign oil companies pulled out of Syria after the imposition of sanctions. The YPG said they would protect the oil installations in the future against any armed group trying to loot the resources, since the field is a "national institution belonging to the sons of the Syrian people."

“The liberation of the town of Ramalan is of great importance in the framework of the liberation of the cities of west Kurdistan [Syria’s Kurdish areas] [...] since this oil wealth has been stolen over the years without benefitting the Kurdish people,” the YPG said, referring to the period during which Syrian government controlled the oil resources.

Alan Semo, a representative of the PYD based in the United Kingdom, told Al-Monitor that the Kurds plan to share the resources with the rest of Syria. The PYD wants to prevent accusations that the Kurds want to separate from Syria.

“In an agreement with a future Syrian government, the Kurds are running their areas. The oil is for all of Syria. We are part of Syria — we do not take the oil, we want to take our share in an agreement between all Kurds, Arabs and Syrian people.”

Moreover, Semo said it is possible that in a future agreement, the Kurds can supply the "liberated areas" controlled by the FSA with oil.

But rivals of the PYD have accused the party of making an agreement with the regime in the past and protecting its oil fields.

Mustafa Cumma, a leader of the Kurdish Freedom Party, one of the Kurdish rivals to the PYD, told Al-Monitor that the PYD “took control of Ramalan and Tirbespi, but still many places are under government control. It is like the PYD has gotten permission from them.”

Sirwan Kajjo, a Syrian-Kurdish journalist based in Washington, DC, confirmed this. “As far as I know, [the PYD] control everything. The thing is all fields have stopped working. But there are still regime forces close to those areas.”

He added, “PYD will eventually share them with the opposition unless something unpredictable happens. I believe the PYD's control of these fields is temporary. Things would change when Assad has departed. But I expect some more infighting between the PYD and local Arab FSA fighters.”

Moreover, it is unclear if the Syrian opposition can use the heavy oil without controlling Homs. Robin Mills, an energy strategist and economist based in Dubai, thinks the oil cannot be used without being refined. In the past, the oil of Hasakah was sent from al-Qahtaniya through a pipeline to Banyas and Homs, were it was refined.

“It's heavy oil, which isn't good for much unless refined. Perhaps it could be burned for heat. Otherwise, it could be smuggled into Turkey or South Kurdistan and sold for a few dollars. Given a bit more time, they could set up a teapot refinery to skim off some products.”

The PYD might have no choice but to share the natural resources with the future Syrian government. Negotiations between the Kurds and Damascus could be as troublesome as they are in neighboring i-rack.

Moaz al Khatib, the leader of the Syrian opposition body the Syrian National Initiative, told the Turkish daily Milliyet that the division of Syria "is a red line," but they are willing to discuss with the Kurds in the future how to govern Syria.

Wladimir van Wilgenburg is a political analyst specializing in issues surrounding on Kurdish politics. He has written extensively for Jamestown Foundation publications and other journals such as the Near East Quarterly and the World Affairs Journal.

Copyright ©, respective author or news agency, al-monitor.com
this map is completly wrong. ek doesnt border the sea and aleppo isnt a kurdish majority city. before the arabization campain, ek was a little bigger, but still not as big as how it shows on this map
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delan chalak
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A L A N
Mar 9 13, 12:01
Kurdish forces takes over oil fields in Syrian Kurdistan

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March 8, 2013

In the beginning of March, a Kurdish militia took over oil fields and installations in northeastern Syria, declaring their willingness to share the resources with the Syrian opposition if the Kurds would get their own share.

With the ongoing civil war between Syrian government forces and Arab rebels, a Syrian Kurdish party called the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its militia, the Kurdish People’s Defence Units (YPG), are increasingly using the power vacuum to create a form of Kurdish autonomy similar to that which i-racki Kurds enjoy.

The PYD has set up local councils, security forces and Kurdish-language schools, creating a parallel government in the north of Syria.

The YPG took control over Tall ʿAdas on Jan. 21, after fighting with the Syrian Army. In March, the YPG took control of Ramalan and the oil fields south of the city of al-Qahtaniya without firing a shot after surrounding regime forces there for a days.

Mohammed Reso, a PYD spokesperson based in the neighboring Kurdistan Region of i-rack, told Al-Monitor that the People’s Defence Units now control most of the Kurdish areas in Syria, adding, “Maybe Qamishli is 40% under government control, the rest we control.”

The PYD, which is allied to the militant Kurdistan Workers Party in Turkey, denies that connection. But despite this, Turkey remains worried and accuses the group of cooperating with the President Bashar al-Assad government of Syria.

On Feb. 25, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed that Ankara will not allow a separate Kurdish political entity in northern Syria, reported Zaman.

This statement followed a cease-fire agreement between rebels of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and the YPG in the mixed city of Ras al-Ain near the Turkish border, where they met to coordinate their movements and establish joint checkpoints to avoid tensions. This agreement was supported by the Syrian opposition, but did not include any discussions about sharing the oil resources of northern Syria.

Therefore, despite fights between the YPG and the armed Syrian opposition in the past, the YPG declared in a statement that only the main Syrian opposition group, the Syrian National Initiative, and the Supreme Kurdish Council, a body uniting various Kurdish political factions including the PYD, have the right to discuss the future of resources in the oil-rich province of Hasakah.

“Only the Supreme Kurdish Council and the National Syrian Coalition have the right to debate about the Syrian Oil Company,” the general command of the YPG said in a statement.

The Syrian Petroleum Company was left operating the field after foreign oil companies pulled out of Syria after the imposition of sanctions. The YPG said they would protect the oil installations in the future against any armed group trying to loot the resources, since the field is a "national institution belonging to the sons of the Syrian people."

“The liberation of the town of Ramalan is of great importance in the framework of the liberation of the cities of west Kurdistan [Syria’s Kurdish areas] [...] since this oil wealth has been stolen over the years without benefitting the Kurdish people,” the YPG said, referring to the period during which Syrian government controlled the oil resources.

Alan Semo, a representative of the PYD based in the United Kingdom, told Al-Monitor that the Kurds plan to share the resources with the rest of Syria. The PYD wants to prevent accusations that the Kurds want to separate from Syria.

“In an agreement with a future Syrian government, the Kurds are running their areas. The oil is for all of Syria. We are part of Syria — we do not take the oil, we want to take our share in an agreement between all Kurds, Arabs and Syrian people.”

Moreover, Semo said it is possible that in a future agreement, the Kurds can supply the "liberated areas" controlled by the FSA with oil.

But rivals of the PYD have accused the party of making an agreement with the regime in the past and protecting its oil fields.

Mustafa Cumma, a leader of the Kurdish Freedom Party, one of the Kurdish rivals to the PYD, told Al-Monitor that the PYD “took control of Ramalan and Tirbespi, but still many places are under government control. It is like the PYD has gotten permission from them.”

Sirwan Kajjo, a Syrian-Kurdish journalist based in Washington, DC, confirmed this. “As far as I know, [the PYD] control everything. The thing is all fields have stopped working. But there are still regime forces close to those areas.”

He added, “PYD will eventually share them with the opposition unless something unpredictable happens. I believe the PYD's control of these fields is temporary. Things would change when Assad has departed. But I expect some more infighting between the PYD and local Arab FSA fighters.”

Moreover, it is unclear if the Syrian opposition can use the heavy oil without controlling Homs. Robin Mills, an energy strategist and economist based in Dubai, thinks the oil cannot be used without being refined. In the past, the oil of Hasakah was sent from al-Qahtaniya through a pipeline to Banyas and Homs, were it was refined.

“It's heavy oil, which isn't good for much unless refined. Perhaps it could be burned for heat. Otherwise, it could be smuggled into Turkey or South Kurdistan and sold for a few dollars. Given a bit more time, they could set up a teapot refinery to skim off some products.”

The PYD might have no choice but to share the natural resources with the future Syrian government. Negotiations between the Kurds and Damascus could be as troublesome as they are in neighboring i-rack.

Moaz al Khatib, the leader of the Syrian opposition body the Syrian National Initiative, told the Turkish daily Milliyet that the division of Syria "is a red line," but they are willing to discuss with the Kurds in the future how to govern Syria.

Wladimir van Wilgenburg is a political analyst specializing in issues surrounding on Kurdish politics. He has written extensively for Jamestown Foundation publications and other journals such as the Near East Quarterly and the World Affairs Journal.

Copyright ©, respective author or news agency, al-monitor.com
this map is unaccarate. 1) wk doesnt border the sea.
2) aleppo isnt a majority kurdish city
3) damascus doesnt has 1 million kurds the pop. of damascus is less than 2 million.
4) even before the arabization campain began, wk still was not the size as shown on this map.
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Qandil
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Dude, ignore the map. It's just posted as it is related to Kurdish news. The news are great. That's what you should think about, and not criticize a pointless map. You are always negative. Are you ever positive?
Edited by Qandil, Apr 9 13, 12:46.
"Kurdino! Bibin yek; eger hûn nebin yek, hûn ê herin yek bi yek." - Cigerxwîn.
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Kurdistano
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Dewran
Apr 9 13, 12:45
Dude, ignore the map. It's just posted as it is related to Kurdish news. The news are great. That's what you should think about, and not criticize a pointless map. You are always negative. Are you ever positive?
I have yet to see one positive point of him.

Before the Arabization campaign Aleppo was by majority Kurdish, Even the famous Aleppo mountain has Kurdish sign in its name. However today Aleppo is an ethnically mixed city so you are right in that point that the map is obviously drawn too large. But their is no doubt that WK(its not EK as he wrote) borders the see. There is a small strip in North of Latakia were Kurds live. And also even if there are some Arab villages in between so what? Arabs have taken so much land from us why shouldn't we do the same with some of their land for our own purpose?
Edited by Kurdistano, Apr 9 13, 9:49.
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Even politicans in WK said what kurdistano said above. There is a kurdish majority place bordering the sea,however there is a strip of arab settelers(Syria moved lots of arabs north to have an "arab" border to Turkey) that seperates it from the rest of WK. I think there is an article on the WK-news thread where a PYD(?) politican talks about that.
Its not liberated yet,but insallah it will be liberated soon.
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ALAN
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Rojava Kurds: We will restore the oil fields in Rojava (Western Kurdistan)

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Ilham Ahmed, member of the supreme council told (Hawlati) that once all of the Kurdish cities fall under our control and jurisdictions, we will start resorting the oil fields and pipelines and used to the our interests.

"the Kurdish oil belongs to kurds only, we wont allow anyone else approaching them" she added.

The oil of Western Kurdistan falls in Rumelan sub-district, for the first time the syrian regime found oil in 1957 in this area.

http://www.hawlati.co/
Russian Girenak Joseph, who visited Kirkuk in Kurdistan as a part of his tour throu the 1870 - 1873 AD, who published the results of his trip & his studies later in 1879, in the 4th volume in the Bulletin of the Caucasus department of the Royal Geographical Russian Society estimated Kirkuk's population as many as 12-50,000 people, & he emphasized that except 40 Christian families, the rest of the population were Kurds. As for The Turkmen & Arabs, they have not been already existed at the time.
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ALAN
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Maliki and PUK help PYD export WK oil to Iran

http://www.sharpress.net/Direje.aspx?Jimare=8839
Russian Girenak Joseph, who visited Kirkuk in Kurdistan as a part of his tour throu the 1870 - 1873 AD, who published the results of his trip & his studies later in 1879, in the 4th volume in the Bulletin of the Caucasus department of the Royal Geographical Russian Society estimated Kirkuk's population as many as 12-50,000 people, & he emphasized that except 40 Christian families, the rest of the population were Kurds. As for The Turkmen & Arabs, they have not been already existed at the time.
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Zagros
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PYD representative in South Kurdistan denies Iran, facilitated by Baghdad & PUK, has started buying oil from PYD interim administration.

https://twitter.com/IdreesMohammd/status/406820667904913408
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ALAN
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http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/05/decade-after-iraq-right-wing-and-liberal-hawks-reunite-over-syria/

Kurdish YPG have controlled the oil rich area of Rumelan since early March. Credit: Karlos Zurutuza/IPS
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Russian Girenak Joseph, who visited Kirkuk in Kurdistan as a part of his tour throu the 1870 - 1873 AD, who published the results of his trip & his studies later in 1879, in the 4th volume in the Bulletin of the Caucasus department of the Royal Geographical Russian Society estimated Kirkuk's population as many as 12-50,000 people, & he emphasized that except 40 Christian families, the rest of the population were Kurds. As for The Turkmen & Arabs, they have not been already existed at the time.
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Zlatan10
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Bad news....
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RawandKurdistani
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Surchi/Xoshnawi

Zlatan10
Dec 15 13, 5:31
Bad news....
What is bad news?
I am confused by God's wisdom:
In this world of States
Why have the Kurds remained Stateless, dispossessed,
What for have they all become fugitives, condemned?


Ahmad Khani

Feed the hungry and visit a sick person
And free the captive
If he be unjustly confined
Assist any person oppressed
Whether Muslim or non-Muslim


- Prophet Muhammad Ibn Abdullah (PBUH)


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ALAN
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U859Z3Pz6OI
Russian Girenak Joseph, who visited Kirkuk in Kurdistan as a part of his tour throu the 1870 - 1873 AD, who published the results of his trip & his studies later in 1879, in the 4th volume in the Bulletin of the Caucasus department of the Royal Geographical Russian Society estimated Kirkuk's population as many as 12-50,000 people, & he emphasized that except 40 Christian families, the rest of the population were Kurds. As for The Turkmen & Arabs, they have not been already existed at the time.
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