Islamist rebels report capture of largest Syrian oil field

Islamist rebels led by al-Qaeda-linked fighters seized the largest oil field in eastern Syria on Saturday, activists said, a raid which would cut off President Bashar al-Assad’s access to almost all local crude reserves.

There was no immediate comment from the government. Losing the al-Omar oil field would mean Assad’s forces would be almost completely reliant on imported oil in their highly mechanised military campaign to put down a two-and-a-half-year uprising.

It was not yet clear how much the loss of the field in Deir al-Zor province would affect Assad’s government or battlefield abilities. But the pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said it would prove a major blow.

“Now, nearly all of Syria’s usable oil reserves are in the hands of the Nusra Front and other Islamist units,” said Rami Abdelrahman, head of the Observatory. “The regime’s neck is now in Nusra’s hands.”

Until the reported insurgent capture of the field, a pipeline transporting the crude to central Syria for refinement had still been working despite the civil war.

Assad is also believed to be getting fuel from Shi’ite Muslim giant Iran, his main regional ally. Tehran has been bankrolling the Syrian government’s fight against the rebels and offering military support.

A video posted on the internet showed rebels in camouflage and black scarves driving a tank under a sign that read “Euphrates Oil Company - al-Omar field”. The speaker said the field was overrun at dawn on Saturday, but the authenticity of the footage could not be independently verified.