Originally posted by: BaliBabyDoc
Yahoo on Rumaila
Armed Iraqis have surfaced in Iraq's vital southern Rumaila oilfields, forcing the U.S. military to limit civilian movement in the oil-rich area.
The U.S. military says an unknown number of wellheads and plants to separate gas from oil at Rumaila, capable of pumping up to one million barrels per day (bpd), may be booby-trapped.
First news that the southern oilfields were not fully safe for travel came when the U.S. military abruptly cancelled a planned trip to the area for journalists.
"The south Rumaila oilfields are unsafe. The trip is cancelled," Captain Danny Chung told reporters in Kuwait.
Curious that the border region would be so unsecure even during
major combat.
CNN International paints a different picture 3 days later
Iraq's Rumaila oil field could begin exporting oil in three months after about $1 billion of repairs, the commander of UK forces in the Gulf said on Thursday.
Kuwaiti teams under the protection of U.S.-led forces are fighting remaining oil well fires which may take up to three weeks to put out, said Burridge.
Getting Iraq's oil fields to pre-1991 production levels will take at least 18 months and cost about $5 billion initially, with $3 billion more in annual operating expenses, according to a recent study from Rice University in Houston, Texas.
Let's do the math, $25/barrel at 2million barrels per day means in two years they can generate $50m/day or $16B in a 300+ working year. Of course the price will fall but who cares about such pertinent details? In the meantime, we will invest $10B to get Rumaila up to this level. What are the odds that a democratic Iraq will pay the US taxpayer back? I'm not talking about the war costs I'm talking about the cost of rebuilding their oil infrastructure.
DOE tells the truth
Another Kuwaiti field -- Ratqa -- has been the subject of controversy. Once thought to be an independent reservoir,
Ratqa is actually a southern extension of Iraq's super-giant Rumaila field. During the weeks preceding Iraq's August 1990 invasion of Kuwait, Iraq had accused Kuwait of stealing billions of dollars worth of Rumaila oil, and had refused to negotiate a sharing or joint development arrangement for Ratqa and southern Rumaila.
After the Gulf War of 1991, a United Nations survey team made a demarcation of the border between Iraq and Kuwait, and this demarcation put all 11 of the existing wells at Ratqa within Kuwaiti territory. Despite this, in September 2000, Iraq renewed accusations it has made previously that Kuwait was "stealing" its oil. Iraq claimed that Kuwait was doing this through horizontal drilling on fields straddling the border between the two countries, and that Iraq was losing $3 billion per year worth of oil. Kuwait denied the charges.
Kuwait produces around 40,000 bbl/d from Ratqa.
The fields which the Kuwaiti government intends to open to foreign investment are all currently operating fields in northern or western Kuwait, including Rawdhatain, Sabriyah,
Ratqa, Bahra, Minagish, and Umm Gudair. Kuwait's largest field, Burgan, is to remain off-limits to foreign investment under the new plan. As of December 2002,
Kuwait reportedly was planning to invest $6 billion in three areas near the Iraqi border -- Abdali, Ratqa, and Rawdhatain. Possible companies involved could be BP, Shell, TotalFinaElf, Sibneft, Lukoil, and Petronas.
In particular, Kuwait aims to increase output at five northern oil fields -- Abdali, Bahra, Ratqa, Rawdhatain, and Sabriyah -- from their
current 450,000 bbl/d to around 900,000 bbl/d by 2005. To date, "Project Kuwait" has made little headway, in large part due to political opposition and resistance from parliament to the idea of allowing foreign companies into the country's oil sector. However, there are hopes that this might change in 2003.
In February 2003, KPC completed a draft contract and proposed financial terms for Project Kuwait. Shortlisted IOCs reportedly include BP,
ChevronTexaco, Conoco, ExxonMobil, Lasmo, Shell, and TotalFinaElf.
Prior to the 1990/1991 Gulf War, Kuwait received significant volumes of natural gas from Iraq.
The gas came from Iraq's southern Rumaila field through a 40-inch, 100-mile, 200 mmcf/d pipeline. The gas was used in Kuwaiti electric power stations and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) plants.