ISIS Advertises For Oil Industry Managers

Published November 19, 2014 at 12:40 PM CST

A view of the Kawergosk Refinery, some 12 miles east of Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, on July 14, 2014. (Safin Hamed/AFP/Getty Images)

The Islamic State has reportedly advertised on the black market for people to manage its oil operations, for a salary of $225,000 per year.

A consultant with Dubai-based Manaar Energy confirmed the story for the Times of London, saying that ISIS is trying to recruit skilled professionals who are “ideologically suitable.”

Western intelligence officials say that, along with ransom and extortion, oil operations have made ISIS one of the wealthiest terrorist organizations in the world. But there have been recent reports of problems at ISIS oil facilities.

Luay al-Khatteeb, founder of the Iraq Energy Institute told Here & Now’s Peter O’Dowd that the group is “highly likely” to find experienced oil industry managers in the region, and judging from the number of engineers, doctors and skilled people of all types who have already joined the ISIS cause.

Guest

Luay al-Khatteeb, visiting fellow at the Brookings Doha Center and founder of the Iraq Energy Institute.