Battle in Syria’s Jazal oilfield

The Syrian Army is fighting Islamic State militants to reclaim its last oilfield left under state control, non-governmental organization The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Tuesday.

The Observatory had reported on Monday that Islamic State militants had taken the Jazal oilfield, but now reports that the Syrian Army has moved into the field and has managed to retake several key areas of the facility. The country’s government initially denied any such seizure had taken place.

The village of Jazal and its oil facilities lie in the Homs province near the ancient city of Palmyra, which was occupied and mostly destroyed by Islamic State militants last week. The medium-sized field was secured by the Syrian Army in June, which fought a battle over the weekend with militants in the area.

Homs provincial governor Talal Al Barazi, told the Al Watan newspaper that Islamic State militants had attacked and seized parts of the Jazal oilfield on Saturday, and that the Syrian Army had retaken those as of Tuesday.

“They tried to take some positions but the attack failed,” a Syrian Army officer said to Reuters.

The oil industry had been key to the Syrian economy, with an output of about 380,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd), until fighting began three years ago. The Jazal field produced 2,500 bopd. Total production for the country at the end of 2014 was 9,329 bopd.