Coalition air strikes and falling oil prices have cut the Islamic State’s revenue from oil fields, and the militant group’s financial resources will further decline if it can’t capture new territory, according to a study.
Islamic State, which also goes by the name ISIL, has also funded itself from “illicit proceeds from its occupation of territory” including bank looting, extortion and robbery, the multilateral Financial Action Task Force said Friday. Other sources are donations, kidnapping and cash smuggling. The report didn’t put a figure on Islamic State’s revenue.
The group’s capacity to extract oil, refine it and sell the products has “significantly diminished,” according to the report. “This is due to coalition air strikes, ISIL’s need for refined crude and declining oil prices.”
The group has recently withdrawn from areas around Aleppo, Syria, and has been pushed back in some places by Kurdish fighters.
“In order to maintain its financial management and expenditures in areas where it operates, ISIL must be able to seize additional territory in order to exploit resources,” the FATF said.
The FATF was founded in 1989 to track money laundering and its 36 members included the world’s largest economies.