Secret Iraqi Interior Report Details Ongoing Oil Theft From Jurf al‑Sakhar Pipelines
A top‑secret Iraqi Interior Ministry report obtained by Kurdistan24 says oil has been stolen from state pipelines in Jurf al‑Sakhar since 2021 and that the operation is still active, based on satellite images and intelligence collected between June 2021 and July 2026.
A top‑secret Iraqi Interior Ministry report has outlined what it calls a multi‑year effort to steal oil from state pipelines in the Jurf al‑Sakhar area, highlighting the scale and persistence of energy‑sector corruption and smuggling.
The 19‑page file, prepared by Directorate 800 of the ministry’s Agency for Intelligence and Federal Investigations and obtained by Kurdistan24, states that crude has been siphoned from pipelines around Jurf al‑Sakhar since 2021 and that the operation is still running. The report draws on satellite images taken between June 2021 and July 2026, combined with intelligence from the ground.
The full document has not been made public, but the description of an operation that has continued for years without being shut down raises questions about who profits and which officials may have ignored or enabled it. Jurf al‑Sakhar, southwest of Baghdad, lies in a sensitive corridor where both security forces and powerful armed groups are active.
For Iraqis, the alleged theft means lost state revenue in a country that depends heavily on oil to fund public salaries, reconstruction, and basic services. Large‑scale illicit tapping can also damage pipelines, increasing the risk of leaks, fires, and other hazards in nearby farmland and villages.
Oil theft on this scale rarely involves purely criminal actors. In Iraq, such schemes often intersect with armed groups that control territory, checkpoints, or storage sites, using illicit oil income to finance their structures and influence. A long‑running siphoning network in Jurf al‑Sakhar would therefore also be a security issue, strengthening non‑state actors that already complicate Baghdad’s authority.
The report’s findings could weigh on investor confidence in Iraq’s energy sector. If security and intelligence agencies document ongoing theft over several years but struggle to stop it, foreign partners may question the state’s ability to protect infrastructure and enforce contracts in contested regions.
The Interior Ministry’s use of satellite imagery shows an attempt to modernize oversight, but identifying suspicious activity from the air and dismantling entrenched networks on the ground are different challenges, especially where politically connected groups may be involved.
Whether this report leads to concrete change will depend on Baghdad’s response. Signals to watch include any public announcement of arrests tied to the Jurf al‑Sakhar scheme, shifts in local security leadership, and follow‑up audits along other pipeline routes that might reveal similar patterns of theft.
Sources
- OSINT