Shafaq News- Baghdad
A confidential technical report obtained exclusively by Shafaq News has documented five years of activity consistent with suspected illegal oil extraction and smuggling near pipelines in Jurf al-Sakhr, an area of northern Babil where Kataib Hezbollah controls security in parts of the district.
The 19-page technical intelligence report documented that large tankers have repeatedly frequented sites near oil pipelines in Jurf al-Sakhr, also known as Jurf al-Nasr, in northern Babil province, between 2021 and 2026. Some of the facilities suspected of being used to collect and store the oil were built underground and covered with steel structures to hide them from direct observation. The report warned of heavy economic losses.
The report says only that the sites fall within an area under the control and protection of “an armed faction” and does not identify the group. Shafaq News sources have described Jurf al-Sakhr as a Kataib Hezbollah stronghold, with the faction controlling security in parts of the district.
The report itself says only that the area falls under the control and protection of “an armed faction,” without naming it. Kataib Hezbollah is widely known to control Jurf al-Sakhr.
Read more: Jurf al-Sakhr and Iraq's push to disarm factions
Activity At Four Sites
Based on intelligence audits, geospatial analysis of satellite imagery and the tracking of tanker movements, the report identified repeated activity at specific sites in Jurf al-Sakhr, part of Musayyib district. Each tanker identified in the report has an estimated capacity of 36,000 liters.
At one site, 21 tankers were recorded on October 30, 2022, the highest number logged at that location among the monitoring dates in the report. The numbers declined in the following years, but tankers continued to appear until July 2026.
At a second site, an area that had contained palm trees was covered with a white steel structure between 2024 and 2026, with oil tankers recorded at intervals, leading the report’s authors to suspect tampering with a nearby pipeline.
Satellite images showed a third site containing a facility resembling a small oil refinery with limited refining capacity. Tanker activity there began to appear in 2022 and continued in the following years.
At an adjacent site, the report described new oil facilities and underground pits believed to be used to store oil and oil products, recording 14 tankers in January 2025 and the same number in July 2026.
The monitoring was carried out during daylight hours, and the report suggested that loading likely continued at night, which could increase the volumes transported and the potential losses. However, it did not provide actual measurements of the quantities drawn or a documented financial estimate of the damage.
Routes to Baghdad
The report outlined three possible routes for moving the oil from the sites toward Baghdad province, passing through areas of Babil and Al-Anbar, based on an analysis of the road network and tanker movements.
It recommended that the Oil Ministry take legal action, in coordination with the oil products distribution and pipeline companies, and audit pressure data on pipelines running through Jurf al-Sakhr against the dates of tanker activity to verify whether oil was being drawn illegally. It also called for stepped-up protection and technical monitoring of the pipelines, warning that continued violations could cause economic and financial damage to Iraq’s oil sector.
Although the report concluded that smuggling operations were likely continuing, it acknowledged that it had not precisely determined the nature of the material being transported, whether crude oil or oil products
Read more: Jurf Al-Sakhar: A decade on, Iraq's displaced still barred from return
Note: Shafaq News is not identifying the body that prepared the report because of the sensitivity of the issue.