External publications

The oil of Northern and Eastern Syria after 2011: an institutional perspective

Abedtalas, Musallam / Ahmad Mohamad / Elika Khorshid / Hemo Giwan
External Publications (2023)

in: International Journal of Kurdish Studies (1), 13-22

Information

This research attempted to approach the conditions of oil production and marketing in northeastern Syria from the perspective of institutional economics, which considers that the formal and informal rules that regulate the economic game are the determinants of economic performance. Within the institutional economics, the institutional analysis framework called SSP was used. Secondary data, available in government documents, press reports، and reports of international organizations, were relied upon, in addition to interviews with some Autonomous Administration of North East Syrian’s officials and some expert. We tried to answer the following question: What is the impact of the institutional arrangements of the Autonomous Administration in Northern and eastern Syria in the performance of the oil sector? As a result, we found that the formal and informal institutional structure of the Autonomous Administration is full of gaps with a clientelist nature that focuses on achieving political loyalty to the Autonomous Administration at the expense of the efficient economic use of such a precious and depleted resource. This structure serves the interests of oil extractor, marketing brokers and owners of refineries at the expense of the general public. Accordingly, a number suggestions, that are expected to improve the performance of the oil sector, presented.