Terrorist groups are cashing in on $1million in crude sales every day, according to the new Global Terrorism Index.
The figure comes days after ISIS terror cells massacred at least 129 people in the France’s capital.
Steve Killelea, executive chairman of the Institute for Economics and Peace, which compiled the report, said: “I think what we’re looking at is a well funded terrorist organisation – the funding gives it the ability to be able to pay for soldiers and fund terror acts beyond its borders.”
In the report, Christina Schori Liang from the Geneva Centre for Security Policy outlined the role oil plays in the terror group’s financial abilities.
It is thought the group controls 10 oilfields dotted throughout Iraq and Syria, allowing it to sell up to 40,000 barrels of crude every day. The total equates to $1million.
She said” “Oil wealth serves several purposes: it provides energy needs for the estimated 10 million civilians living in ISIS controlled territory and it helps fuel the war machine.
“More importantly, oil is used as a leveraging device to control its enemies. Many opposition forces are dependent on ISIS for diesel.”
The crude is thought to be smuggled through the black market before being consumed in Turkey, Iran and Jordan.
The terror group also controls at least eight power plants in Syria.
To read what the Paris attacks mean for commodity prices go here.