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Targeting Syria's Energy Sector

(Foreign Policy) Andrew Tabler - Cash-strapped Iran does not have the resources to indefinitely bail out Assad if the U.S. organizes a Western effort to hit Syria in its Achilles' heel - namely, its energy revenues. To help end the bloodshed and bring about a quicker demise of the Assad regime, Washington should now be more ruthless with the Assad regime. According to IMF and U.S. government estimates, oil sales account for around one-third of Syrian state revenue. The Obama administration could prod the chief buyers of Syrian oil - companies in Germany, Italy, France, and the Netherlands - to stop purchasing the regime's oil. The U.S., together with the EU, could pressure multinational energy companies involved in Syrian energy - namely, Royal Dutch Shell, Total, Croatia's INA Nafta, and Petro-Canada - to divest their operations. The U.S. could also seek to interrupt oil-tanker payment mechanisms and sanction tankers hauling Syrian oil. The writer is the Next Generation fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
2011-07-20 00:00:00
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