WASHINGTON is stealing more than 80 per cent of Syria’s oil resources every day, the Ministry of Oil and Mineral Resources says as US forces continue to plunder the country’s natural resources. 

According to the ministry, Syrian oil production for the first half of 2022 amounted to 14.5 million barrels, an average of 80,300 a day.

But it has accused the US occupying forces of the theft of 66,000 barrels a day, which amounts to just over 83 per cent of Syria’s oil output.

Syria’s government accuses Washington of smuggling oil out of the country via an illegal crossing into Iraqi Kurdistan. 

Regular reports from the ground have been backed by footage and photographs appearing to show large convoys of US tankers leaving the country, often escorted by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). 

They are also accused of stealing wheat, with tonnes of grain taken by the occupying forces leaving many Syrians hungry due to the impact of US-imposed sanctions. 

Sources close to the SDF have confirmed that Syria’s natural resources are being plundered by the US, but said that journalists are too afraid to speak out. 

A clampdown on media saw around a dozen arrested last week while Syrian journalist Mohammad al-Saghir remains behind bars despite a global appeal for his release by trade unions. 

He has been held since 2019 with colleagues telling the Morning Star that he was targeted because of his reporting on the theft of wheat and oil by the US occupiers. 

Fears have been raised over his health after his family reported that he had suffered a number of strokes while it is alleged that he has been tortured in custody. 

A widely criticised oil deal struck between the SDF and the US Delta Crescent Energy in 2020 expired last April after US President Joe Biden axed a waiver allowing it to trade in Syria.

But Syrian Democratic Council co-chair Ilham Ahmed has since insisted that local officials were planning to resurrect the agreement while her call for the region to be exempted from US sanctions was agreed in June. 

President Bashar al-Assad has long-called for the US and Turkish occupying forces to leave the country and end their violations of Syrian sovereignty.