Energy & Environment

Treasury to step up efforts against ISIS oil sales

In line with President Obama’s strategy to “systematically degrade, dismantle and defeat” the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the Treasury Department said Wednesday that it plans to up its pressure on the terror group’s oil sales.

ISIS “benefits from sales of Iraqi and Syrian oil,” Treasury said on Wednesday, pledging to “intensify our efforts to undermine” that element of the terrorist group’s funding, along with others.

{mosads}To choke off the group’s oil and refined petroleum sales, Treasury will work with partners overseas on “disrupting each of these sources of [ISIS] financing.”

“Treasury is committed to ensuring that [ISIS] is unable to access the international financial system,” David Cohen, Treasury’s under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, wrote in a blog post on Wednesday.

Obama is scheduled to address the nation on details of the administration’s strategy to “hunt down” and defeat ISIS.