the world’s attention is now concentrated on the activities of ISIS and the prescriptions for defeating (as opposed to containing) them. Their finances are a major part of this. The Western powers have had some success curtailing hostile groups by attacking their financial flows, restricting movements of cash from ideological supporters and/or members of an ethnic diaspora. However, ISIS has proved more resilient, partly because of its territorial control but also because as much as half of its money is thought to come from petroleum production.

....ISIS found a large-scale (perhaps 200 tbd), albeit mostly dormant, network that was capable of smuggling oil to either wholesalers and pipeline connections, mingling it with the legitimate oil stream, or to small-scale refiners who would supply local customers with products. The huge fleet of tanker trucks recently attacked by the US is basically a leftover from the days of Saddam Hussein and is highly decentralized and thus difficult to target. And basic of its simplicity, most aspects are easy to repair or replace. Cutting the oil revenues of ISIS will thus be a challenging proposition, although their costs can be increased significantly so as to lower their revenue.





[link to www.forbes.com]