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Europe and the Politics Of Syrian Oil

The EU lifted a ban on the export of Syrian oil from rebel areas and must figure out how to get hold of the oil, much of which lies under destroyed infrastructure and in areas of active fighting, writes Nasser Chararah.
TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY JOSE MIGUEL CALATAYUD
A picture taken on April 15, 2013 shows a Syrian man in the Al Raqqa countryside, who until three months ago was a farmer, pouring crude oil brought from Deir Ezzor province into a pit where it will be distilled as part of the refining process to produce fuel. Final products such as benzine and diesel are then sold to locals. Deir Ezzor contains the largest energy reserves in Syria, which produced some 420,000 of barrels of oil a day before the United States and
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Last month's European resolution to lift the embargo on supplying oil equipment to and buying oil from the Syrian opposition was a landmark in the Syrian crisis.

For its part, the regime believes that this is a sign of a close relationship between the motives of the internal war in Syria and the future of oil in the country. According to information obtained from independent Syrian sources that are linked to the Syrian oil sector, the implementation of this European resolution faces major obstacles.

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