Environmental Impact of the Oil Industry in Northern Syria

In a context where the industry lacks proper safety regulations and three-quarters of AANES revenues depend on oil production, business profitability comes at the expense of health and environmental rights. Since taking control of the oil fields in the northeast in 2018, the Syrian Democratic Forces have “contracted private businesses to run the oil fields in its territories to reduce operation costs,” and these actors rely on “primitive methods” to refine oil.