Feature: Syrians decry U.S. seizure of oil resources amid economic crisis

AL-HASAKAH, Syria, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- In the oil-rich eastern region of Syria, people are voicing their frustration and dismay over what they perceive as the United States' theft of their oil resources, which has exacerbated an already dire economic crisis in their country.

The U.S.-led occupation of the oil-rich areas in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour and the northeastern province of al-Hasakah has left Syrians grappling with the consequences of their dwindling resources.

Syrian official media outlets frequently report on "the U.S. stealing of natural resources."

On Sunday, the state news agency SANA said that a 40-tanker convoy, carrying oil taken from Syrian fields, was witnessed departing Syria's al-Hasakah province for U.S. bases in neighboring Iraq.

On the same day, a convoy comprising 55 trucks loaded with "stolen" grains, including wheat and barley, headed towards Iraqi territory, said SANA.

The news agency said these are "systematic efforts by the U.S. occupation to deplete and exploit Syrian national resources."

Witnessing the U.S. blatantly steal their desperately needed resources, Syrians are both frustrated and angry.

"Why do they take our wheat? Why do they take our oil? Every day, 50 tankers and 70 tankers! Oh, you colonizers, you American criminals, the world's criminals," Khalil Al-Bakr, a 63-year-old retiree from Al-Hasakah city, told Xinhua.

Salem Al-Rahil, a 21-year-old university student from the rural area of Al-Hasakah, lamented the lack of heating diesel for local people, while loads of oil have been continuously taken away by the Americans.

"We are suffering greatly as residents of the eastern region in general. We can't do anything except watch our country's resources leaving the borders," he said.

Masira Al-Hassan, a 50-year-old lawyer from Al-Malikiyah city, told Xinhua that the struggle to meet basic needs, such as food and fuel, becomes even more daunting as Syria's wheat and oil are siphoned off by the United States.

"The Syrian people see with their own eyes that the American occupation is stealing natural resources that they desperately need during these harsh conditions of winter and the global economic crisis," Al-Hassan said.

On the government level, officials also have denounced the losses caused by the U.S. occupation of oil fields in Syria.

Farhan Jamil Abdullah, head of the government-run Syrian Oil Company, said in July that as a result of the U.S. sanctions and military presence in Syria, oil production by his company had decreased from 385,000 barrels per day before the crisis to 15,000, while gas production had gone down from 30 million cubic meters per day to 10 million cubic meters.

Abdullah added that most of the energy fields in Syria have gone out of government control as a result of the U.S. presence.

Oil Minister Firas Hassan Kaddour said in July that the U.S. occupation had led to economic losses of about 100 billion U.S. dollars in Syria's energy sector.