IS captures parts of last major Syrian oilfield held by government

Islamic State group militants have captured parts of the last major oilfield under government control, halting production at the site, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said on Monday.

Syrian government forces have held IS off in some part of the Jazal oilfield in the central Homs province, according to observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman.

With the IS advance, production has been halted with employees pulling out as the fighting drew near, he said.

The observatory said IS had also seized the town of Jazal near the oilfield, with the militant group issuing a statement on social media claiming to have "liberated" the town.

Abdel Rahman said Jazal, which previously produced around 2,500 barrels per day (bpd), was the last major oilfield under government control in Syria, though the government has access to oil being pumped by Kurdish forces in the northeast.

The Jazal field has changed hands before, with IS briefly capturing it in June before goverment troops retook it.

Official oil production in Syria has plummeted since the conflict began in March 2011. By the end of 2014, it was down to 9,329 bpd from a pre-war output of 380,000 bpd.

IS has captured many of Syria's most productive oilfields, predominantly in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor.

In the northeastern province of Hasakeh, Kurdish forces control the major Rmeilan field and are refining crude there for the first time.