Konflikten i Syrien

RAF pilots and ground crew are on standby at a base Cyprus to launch airstrikes in Syria if tomorrow's vote is passed.

In mid-2015, oil fields under IS control produced between 30,000 and 40,000 barrels per day, according to widely reported estimates.
The supply chain entailed IS selling crude to traders, who transported it to small refineries set up in IS-controlled areas.
Oil bought at the well-head for $20-25 per barrel in mid-2014 could end up in Turkey being sold at below the world market price of over $100/barrel, yielding healthy profits to everyone involved.
For a trader to make a profit selling bad quality Syrian products in Turkey now the well-head price would have to be much lower, and this would not necessarily make commercial sense for IS.
Since mid-October 2015, the IS oil business has been hit hard as US and French jets have started to attack well-head facilities and tanker trucks for the first time, and Kurdish and local Arab rebels have seized an oil field from IS in southern Hassakeh province.

IS earns much of its money from oil fields it controls in north-eastern Syria and western Iraq.
Some of the oil is sold to the Assad regime and some is smuggled through middlemen to Turkey. Mr Erdogan reiterated his denial that his government was involved in the trade.

US special forces have already conducted operations in both Syria and Iraq - notably the killing of the IS oil chief Abu Sayaff in eastern Syria and the freeing of prisoners from the IS-held town of Hawija near Kirkuk in Iraq.
But this is a clear indication from the Pentagon that their role will become more significant.
The "specialised expeditionary targeting force", as the Iraq group is being called, will not only assist local forces but will also conduct further "unilateral" raids into Syria.
While this does not amount to significant numbers of boots on the ground, it is an escalation of America's role in direct combat.
Mr Carter said there was now an important opportunity to divide IS militants in Iraq from those in Syria.

Russia wants to stop ISIS’ illegal oil trade – Churkin

Russia is working with the UN Security Council on a document that would enforce stricter implementation of Resolution 2199, which aims to curb illegal oil trade with and by terrorist groups, Russian ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin told RIA Novosti.

The draft resolution intends to quash the financing of terrorist groups, including Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) extremists.
“We are not happy with the way Resolution 2199, which was our initiative, is controlled and implemented. We want to toughen the whole procedure,” Churkin said. “We are already discussing the text with some colleagues and I must say that so far there is not a lot of contention being expressed.”

US Ambassador Samantha Power said that America has “a shared objective” with Russia on this, since it is also working towards bringing the financing of terrorism to a halt.

More specifically, it bans all types of oil trade with IS and Jabhat al-Nusra. If such transactions are discovered, they are labeled as financial aid to terrorists and result in targeted sanctions being imposed by the Security Council against participating individuals or companies.

‘Erdogan supporting ISIS, black oil market’ – retired US army general