The Iraqi interior ministry announced that energy police in the Baghdad, Babil, Basra, and Diyala provinces “detained 10 suspects and seized their vehicles, which were prepared for smuggling oil derivatives.”
The security forces launched legal procedures against the suspects, according to the ministry.
If convicted, the suspects face prison time and fines up to five times the value of the smuggled oil.
Details were not given regarding the destination of the smuggled oil.
Oil is Iraq’s primary source of revenue. Smuggling the natural resource is detrimental to its fragile economy.
The country relies on oil sales to cover government costs and pay civil servant salaries.
Iraq exported over 99.3 million barrels of oil in September, at an average rate of 3.2 million bpd, according to the oil ministry’s monthly report. The ministry has not released its report for October.
In 2023, Iraq exported more than 1.23 billion barrels of crude oil, according to oil ministry figures, bringing in total yearly revenue of $97.5 billion, approximately $18 million less than 2022 which saw the country pocket a record-setting $115.5 billion,
