It has become more expensive for the so-called Islamic State to operate its oil sectors in Iraq and Syria, and prices of fuel and commodities in key Iraqi territories are increasing, as airstrikes have escalated with a focus on the group’s oil sector, residents and American officials told Platts. Much of the details were corroborated by information obtained from the US military’s raid of the IS group’s Syrian oil minister, Abu Sayyaf, in May, some of which was recently declassified and outlined in briefings to Platts. “We have all understood and known that the energy sector was going to be very important to ISIL from day one,” said Amos Hochstein, the top State Department official focused on energy issues and a point person for the government on targeting IS oil. “From the early days, different groups prioritized different territory that had energy infrastructure of different kinds, whether pipelines, refineries, […]