Report on Makeshift Oil Refineries in Syria

Al-Arabiya TV:

Reporter: Mobile gas stations have become widespread in northern Syria, replacing the licensed stations. This station for example, provides low-quality services at exorbitant prices. It is the main supplier of benzene and diesel for the locals.

Man: This is refined mazut. We don't know where it came from. We don't know if it came from these stations or from further inland. It's sold from one person to another. By the time it gets here, the price has sky-rocketed. Everybody around here is poor, but we need mazut to run tractors and machinery.

Reporter: These mobile stations get their products from makeshift refineries. Even though operating these refineries is dangerous, and their products are harmful to the environment as well as to people, they have become widespread.

This is one of the refineries, which produces, believe it or not, petroleum derivatives. Ahmad fills the tank of his refinery with 350 liters of crude oil. Then the "cooking" stage begins – a fire is lit and the flames surround the tank, until the crude oil turns into a vapor. Then, water is poured onto the pipes conducting the vapor, in order to help in its condensation. Ahmad waits for 20 minutes until the benzene starts flowing, followed by other derivatives.

Ahmad: First we get benzene, then we get gas, and finally we get mazut. We get the crude oil from Deir Al-Zur, where the Free Syrian Army has taken control of several oil wells, and has started distributing products to the people.

Reporter: When heated, these containers are like ticking time bombs, which could explode at any moment, taking the lives of the workers. In addition, the fumes emitted pose a health hazard.

Reporter 2: Ahmad can produce about 700 liters of petroleum derivatives if he works around the clock. Then traders come to buy these products, which they sell in the markets of the region.

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The Internet:

Man: In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate. You are now witnessing the refining of crude oil, since the supply of benzene, mazut, and gas has been cut off.

This is the burner. The [FSA's] Northern Shield Brigade supervises the operation, which is monitored by experts. The raw material is burned in here. This apparatus is completely handmade. The refining is done in here. He's cooling the pipe over there, in order to prevent it from exploding.

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