Gas and Oil Smuggling Market Value: $6.2 Billion
$5 Billion worth of gas and oil is smuggled out of Iraq every year, with an additional $1.2 Billion smuggled out of other areas of the world.
Source: $5 billion losses for Iraq to Gas Smuggling: Sam Dagher, ‘Basra strike against Shiite militias also about oil,” Christian Science Monitor, April 9, 2008.
Additional $1.2 Billion from [...]
100,000 liters of fuel smuggled into Thailand every day from Malaysia
Source: Wichayant Boonchote, “Smuggling of fuel from Malaysia on the increase,” Bangkok Post, May 1, 2008.
Smuggling organization in Iraq makes about $5 million from smuggling oil
According to a report in The Guardian, a smuggling organization in Iraq is estimated to make about $5 million a week from smuggling oil.
Source: Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, “Oiling the wheels of war: Smuggling becomes the real economy of Iraq,” Guardian, June 9, 2007.
40 to 50 percent of profits ends up with insurgents in Iraq
40 to 50 percent of the profits from fuel smuggling is believed to end up in the hands of insurgents.
Source: Robert F. Worth and James Glanz, ” Oil Graft Fuels the Insurgency, Iraq and U.S. Say,” New York Times, February 5, 2006.
100,000 barrels of oil sold everyday by smugglers in Nigeria
Source: AFP, ” Nigeria military seize 12 oil trucks used for smuggling crude oil,” Google News, October 1, 2007.
$4 billion worth of gas smuggled out of Iraq in 2005
Source: Associated Press, ” U.S. Troops Crack Down on Fuel Smuggling.” Yahoo! News, May 9, 2006.
