[News] Israel is not isolated: A global web of oil and complicity feeding its war machine

[Anti-Imperialist News]

  Israel is not isolated: A global web of oil and complicity

Across continents, the occupation state's energy lifelines are sustained 
by a network of enabling powers, feeding its war machine across West Asia

Erman Çete <https://thecradle.co/authors/erman-cete-58>

AUG 28, 2025 - 
https://thecradle.co/articles/israel-is-not-isolated-a-global-web-of-oil-and-complicity

Photo Credit: The Cradle

About 100 kilometers east of Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, lies the 
Azeri–Chirag–Deepwater Gunashli (ACG) oilfield, the largest in the 
Caspian basin's Azerbaijani sector. Operated by BP Exploration Limited, 
it feeds directly into the infamous Baku–Tiflis–Ceyhan (BTC 
<https://thecradle.co/articles-id/25327>) Pipeline.

South of Baku, at the Sangachal terminal, oil and gas are stored before 
being exported. According to BP, around 106 million barrels of oil and 
condensate passed through Sangachal in the first half of this year 
<https://www.bp.com/en_az/azerbaijan/home/news/business-updates/2025-first-half-results.html?>, 
primarily via the BTC Pipeline.

 From there, oil crosses Azerbaijan and Georgia, enters Turkiye, and 
finally reaches the Turkish port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean. As 
authors James Marriott and Mika Minio-Paluello explain in ‘The Oil Road: 
Journeys from the Caspian Sea to the City of London’ (2012), the oil 
takes two primary paths from Ceyhan: one to the Italian port of Miggia 
via the Greek Islands, the other south along the Levantine coast to the 
Suez Canal.

*Pipeline to genocide*

After that, oil and gas inexplicably find their way to fund the Israeli 
occupation state’s genocidal war on Gaza. The profits enrich bankers in 
the City of London and British Petroleum shareholders. Everyone wins – 
except the Palestinians.

The BTC Pipeline, stretching nearly 1,800 miles, is a main energy artery 
for the occupation state. It supplies an estimated 40 percent of Tel 
Aviv's crude oil needs, while Israel ranks sixth among importers of 
Azerbaijani oil. Azerbaijan’s state-owned energy giant SOCAR, one of 
Israel’s key energy partners, is also Turkiye’s largest foreign investor 
<https://turkishminute.com/2025/01/06/socar-to-invest-7-billion-in-turkish-energy-sector-amid-criticism-of-oil-trade-with-israel/>, 
as confirmed by SOCAR Turkiye CEO Elchin Ibadov.

The BTC Pipeline’s legal foundation is anchored in two key agreements. 
The more consequential of the two comprises Host Government Agreements 
signed between BP's BTC Consortium and each transit country. These 
contracts essentially override <https://t.co/CuCp7M3SyP> national 
sovereignty.

Article 2 of the Intergovernmental Agreement illustrates this starkly:

    “Each State declares and guarantees that it is not a party to, or is
    not legally bound to apply or comply with, any internal law or
    regulation, or any international agreement or treaty, that is
    inconsistent with, undermines, or impedes this Agreement, or that
    adversely affects or restricts the State’s ability to enter into or
    implement this Agreement or other relevant Project Agreements.”

Even after the devastating earthquakes that shook south-eastern Turkey 
in 2023, it was BP who declared force majeure 
<https://www.enerjigunlugu.net/bp-ceyhandan-btc-petrolu-sevkiyati-icin-mucbir-sebep-ilan-etti-52815h.htm> 
for the Ceyhan Terminal in Adana, where Azerbaijani oil is shipped.

This effectively prioritized oil exports over local disaster relief. A 
BP spokesperson in Baku confirmed the declaration, which allowed the 
company to bypass contractual obligations.

^A map showing the Baku–Tiflis–Ceyhan (BTC)Pipeline route.

*Beyond Baku: The global complicity network*

Yet focusing solely on Azerbaijan and the BTC Pipeline obscures the 
bigger picture: The occupation state is deeply embedded 
<https://thecradle.co/articles/gulf-backed-genocide-how-arab-monarchies-fuel-israels-war-machine> 
in the global energy trade, both as importer and exporter.

Investor-owned and private oil companies are complicit. According to 
last year’s report by Oil Change International 
<https://oilchange.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/behind-the-barrel-august-2024-v3.pdf?u>, 
these firms collectively supply 66 percent of Israel’s oil, with 35 
percent of that share coming from six major international oil companies 
– BP, Chevron, Eni, ExxonMobil, Shell, and TotalEnergies – between 
October 2023 and July 2024.

Over the same period, Kazakhstan supplied 22 percent of Israeli crude. 
African nations – notably Gabon, Nigeria, and Congo – contributed 37 
percent. Even Brazil, under President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (a vocal 
critic of Tel Aviv) continued shipments throughout 2024. In May 2025, 
Brazilian oil workers' unions revealed in a joint letter 
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/brazilian-oil-trade-unions-urge-government-impose-oil-embargo-israel> 
to the president that 2.7 million barrels of crude had been exported to 
Israel that year.

Israel also imports refined petroleum products critical for its military 
occupation across Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria. Mediterranean states 
like Cyprus, Italy, Greece, and Albania have all shipped fuel, diesel, 
and naphtha.

Cyprus has additionally provided transshipment services. Meanwhile, 
Russian vacuum gas oil 
<https://johnmenadue.com/post/2024/04/who-is-supplying-israel-with-the-oil-it-needs/> 
(VGO) continues to flow into Haifa’s refineries. One major source 
remains Kazakhstan's CPC Blend crude, exported via 
<https://www.spglobal.com/commodity-insights/en/news-research/latest-news/crude-oil/101823-opec-plays-down-irans-call-for-oil-embargo-on-israel-after-hospital-blast> 
Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk.

Despite its shift toward natural gas, coal still comprised 12.7 percent 
of Tel Aviv's energy supply in 2023, according to the International 
Energy Agency (IEA <https://www.iea.org/countries/israel/energy-mix>), 
with the top suppliers being BRICS nations. Colombia provides 50–60 
percent of the coal. Russia and South Africa follow closely despite 
their condemnations of Israel and South Africa’s International Court of 
Justice (ICJ) genocide case. The US and China round out the top five.

Arab and Muslim countries 
<https://thecradle.co/articles/the-enemy-within-arab-states-that-trade-with-israel> 
are no exception. Following 7 October 2023, the Saudi-led OPEC bloc 
rejected Iran's calls for an oil embargo. Tel Aviv continues to receive 
modest but steady crude flows through the Sumed (Suez-Mediterranean) 
Pipeline, transporting oil from Saudi Arabia 
<https://oilchange.org/news/new-research-exposes-countries-and-companies-supplying-the-oil-fueling-palestinian-genocide/>, 
the UAE, Iraq, and Egypt. In 2020, Israel’s Europe–Asia Pipeline Co. 
signed a transport agreement 
<https://www.spglobal.com/commodity-insights/en/news-research/latest-news/crude-oil/102020-israeli-pipeline-company-to-transport-uae-oil-via-red-sea-med-network> 
with UAE firm RED Land Bridge Ltd., deepening the ties between Gulf 
states and Tel Aviv.

*Leviathan's bounty and Arab betrayal*

Perhaps the most scandalous development is that Israel itself has become 
an energy source.

In August 2025, Egypt signed 
<https://thecradle.co/articles/israel-signs-largest-ever-gas-export-deal-with-egypt-worth-35bn> 
a record-breaking $35-billion gas deal with Tel Aviv, nearly tripling 
its gas imports from the Leviathan offshore fields – the largest export 
agreement in Israeli ‘history.’ NewMed Energy, an Israeli company, 
anticipates transporting 130 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas to Egypt 
by 2040.

Natural gas exports to Egypt and Jordan rose 13.4 percent in 2024, 
despite rhetorical condemnations from Arab leaders. Energy Minister Eli 
Cohen lauded 
<https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/israeli-natural-gas-exports-egypt-jordan-up-134-2024-2025-03-05/> 
the figures, claiming they prove Israel’s energy sector is a “strategic 
asset” and key to “regional stability.”

/Reuters/ also noted that “Israel is positioning itself as a regional 
energy hub and has committed to supplying natural gas to Europe, which 
has been diversifying away from Russia since its invasion of Ukraine.”

Last year, the Leviathan field produced 11.33 bcm of gas, generating 
$282 million in revenue. The nearby Tamar 
<https://thecradle.co/articles/israel-to-expand-gas-exports-to-egypt> 
field earned $232 million from 10.09 bcm. Total gas production rose 8.3 
percent, with royalties climbing nearly 11 percent to $704.5 million. 
State revenues from gas are projected to hit $1.4 billion this year, 
doubling within a few years.

*The masquerade of embargoes*

On 21 August, /Reuters/ reported 
<https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/turkish-ports-raise-new-barriers-israel-linked-ships-sources-say-2025-08-21/> 
that Turkiye informed its port authorities that ships linked to Israel 
would be barred from docking. The new requirement insists that guarantee 
letters confirm no Israeli ties or military cargo on board.

Ankara claims to have halted trade with Israel post-7 October. But the 
reality 
<https://thecradle.co/articles/how-turkiye-bypasses-its-own-israel-trade-ban-via-greece> 
suggests otherwise. Tankers frequently disable their tracking systems in 
the eastern Mediterranean, feign destinations in Egypt or elsewhere, and 
arrange deliveries through third-country traders.

Russian Telegram channel Dva Mayora exposed 
<https://t.me/dva_majors/78077> Greek tankers Seavigour and Kimolos for 
involvement in these covert routes in 2025. As of 22 August, the 
Marshall Islands-flagged Nissos Antimilos was seen 190 kilometers west 
of Haifa, fresh from Ceyhan and awaiting an Israeli tanker for offshore 
transfer.

Arab and Muslim-majority states, it seems, prefer performative outrage 
over substantive action. Their duplicity ensures that, while Tel Aviv 
drops bombs on Gaza, the oil fueling its war machine flows uninterrupted.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20250828/65ffc516/attachment.htm>