"We've taken control of the oil in the Middle East," President Trump claimed on Friday afternoon, in response to criticism over his handling of US troop movements out of Syria.
"We've taken control of the oil in the Middle East, the oil that we're talking about, the oil that everybody was worried about. We have the U.S. control of that," Trump said, adding that America's actions in Syria should have been made years ago under the Obama administration.
The words echoed Trump's earlier tweet, with similar oil-based claims. "The U.S. has secured the Oil, & the ISIS Fighters are double secured by Kurds & Turkey," Trump's tweet read in part.
The President did not elaborate on what he meant by "securing the oil," but speculations about the President's statement assume he is referring to US special forces that have been-and will continue to be-in control of oil and gas fields in Deir Ezzor.
The Syrian state has long argued that the oil and gas assets should be returned to it.
Trump added that the Kurds are very happy with the deal the US has secured. If President Trump adheres strictly and completely with his promise to exit Syria, the question remains exactly how the US will continue securing this oil. Related: Is This The End Of The Lithium-Ion Battery?
Most of Syria's oil has been controlled by the US-backed SDF. Pre-war, Syria was producing 387,000 barrels of oil per day, 140,000 barrels per day which were exported.
Washington has so far juggled the presence of Turkey, Iran, Russia, and ISIS in the area, but now that ISIS has been weakened in the area, Washington has claimed its presence in Syria is no longer necessary.
In recent developments, Turkey has agreed to stop its assault in Syria, in exchange for the Kurdish forces leaving the safe zone in the country's northeast and the US agreeing to remove a round of recently imposed sanctions after an official ceasefire was agreed.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
Julianne Geiger is a veteran editor, writer and researcher for Oilprice.com, and a member of the Creative Professionals Networking Group. More
Comments
And while President Trump is hallucinating and deluding himself about Syria and Middle East Oil, another leader who is light years more intelligent and astute than him has been enhancing his influence over the whole global oil market and the great oil reserves of the Middle East through building strategic relations with Saudi Arabia and UAE, two of the world’s largest oil producers and also through influencing OPEC+ decisions on oil policies and prices by cooperation with the organization without even bragging about it. This man is Russia’s Putin.
Dr Mamdouh G Salameh
International Oil Economist
Visiting Professor of Energy Economics at ESCP Europe Business School, London
Why aren’t you journalists doing your jobs?