Security for Iraqi Oil

[BaliBabyDoc]

CNN International
Mackay said during the last two weeks since he started the operation, coalition patrols have intercepted several ships and sent them back to Iraqi ports. He said the coalition is determined to stop the smuggling of Iraqi oil, to protect Iraq's oil reserves, and return the money to the Iraqi people.

I bet Kuwaiti production on their side of the border has exploded . . . let's hear it for diagonal wells . . . and being a member of the Coalition.

 

[charrison]

Originally posted by: BaliBabyDoc
CNN International
Mackay said during the last two weeks since he started the operation, coalition patrols have intercepted several ships and sent them back to Iraqi ports. He said the coalition is determined to stop the smuggling of Iraqi oil, to protect Iraq's oil reserves, and return the money to the Iraqi people.

I bet Kuwaiti production on their side of the border has exploded . . . let's hear it for diagonal wells . . . and being a member of the Coalition.

Lets hear it for the tin foil hat brigade.

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

Why, you lose yours?

 

[charrison]

Originally posted by: BaliBabyDoc
Why, you lose yours?

Well I am not accusing a country of slant drilling without any proof.

 

[CaptnKirk]

That wasn't an accusal, it was a recommendation.

 

[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.

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

What does the Heritage Foundation have to say?

France?s largest oil company, Total Fina Elf, has negotiated extensive oil contracts to develop the Majnoon and Nahr Umar oil fields in southern Iraq. Both the Majnoon and Nahr Umar fields are estimated to contain as much as 25 percent of the country?s oil reserves. The two fields purportedly contain an estimated 26 billion barrels of oil.[4] In 2002, the non-war price per barrel of oil was $25. Based on that average these two fields have the potential to provide a gross return near $650 billion.

Nope . . . the US didn't care about that at all.

The United States remains the largest importer of Iraqi oil under the UN Oil-for-Food program. However, U.S. companies can no longer deal directly with Iraq for its oil imports. U.S. companies are forced to deal with third party vendors as a result of a ban on all American companies imposed by Iraq. In 2002, the U.S. imported $3.5 billion worth of Iraqi oil.[32]
Iraq is the sixth largest supplier of oil to the United States. In 2002, imports from Iraq accounted for only 5 percent of total U.S. oil imports, dropping down from 8.5 percent in 2001. In addition, American oil companies have not signed a contract with Baghdad since 1972.

Now we have contracts out the wazoo.

According to the SIPRI arms transfers database, from 1981 to 2001, the United States was the 11th largest supplier of weapons and arms to Iraq, supplying approximately $200 million of Iraq?s weapons imports. The top three suppliers, from 1981 to 2001, were Russia, China and France respectively.[34]

I wonder how much we supplied Saddam from 1981-1989 . . . I have a strong suspicion we didn't give anything from 1990-2001. I love lying right wing think tanks that believe every American is as dumb as Bush. Well I guess technically they aren't lying . . . just selective with the facts.

 

[charrison]

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.

The truth being that kuwait had 11 wells at the iraq/kuwait border, but they were still in kuwait. The question about slant wells as near as i can tell is still unanswered.

 

[charrison]

Originally posted by: BaliBabyDoc
What does the Heritage Foundation have to say?

France?s largest oil company, Total Fina Elf, has negotiated extensive oil contracts to develop the Majnoon and Nahr Umar oil fields in southern Iraq. Both the Majnoon and Nahr Umar fields are estimated to contain as much as 25 percent of the country?s oil reserves. The two fields purportedly contain an estimated 26 billion barrels of oil.[4] In 2002, the non-war price per barrel of oil was $25. Based on that average these two fields have the potential to provide a gross return near $650 billion.

Nope . . . the US didn't care about that at all.

The United States remains the largest importer of Iraqi oil under the UN Oil-for-Food program. However, U.S. companies can no longer deal directly with Iraq for its oil imports. U.S. companies are forced to deal with third party vendors as a result of a ban on all American companies imposed by Iraq. In 2002, the U.S. imported $3.5 billion worth of Iraqi oil.[32]
Iraq is the sixth largest supplier of oil to the United States. In 2002, imports from Iraq accounted for only 5 percent of total U.S. oil imports, dropping down from 8.5 percent in 2001. In addition, American oil companies have not signed a contract with Baghdad since 1972.

Now we have contracts out the wazoo.

According to the SIPRI arms transfers database, from 1981 to 2001, the United States was the 11th largest supplier of weapons and arms to Iraq, supplying approximately $200 million of Iraq?s weapons imports. The top three suppliers, from 1981 to 2001, were Russia, China and France respectively.[34]

I wonder how much we supplied Saddam from 1981-1989 . . . I have a strong suspicion we didn't give anything from 1990-2001. I love lying right wing think tanks that believe every American is as dumb as Bush. Well I guess technically they aren't lying . . . just selective with the facts.

The US has been a small player in arming Iraq. The top several acount for 10s of billions in weapons.

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

Let me see if I get this straight . . . you really believe . . . and I don't mean to put words in your mouth. You really believe the 11 wells on the margin of Iraq's Rumaila oilfield are intended to pump Kuwait's share only?! Damn you are an amazing human being b/c you and your kindred spirits in Kuwait are the most decent people on the planet.

As for the Heritage Foundation BS . . . I actually found the database they referenced; SIPRI database on weapons transfers to Iraq

I bet if we averaged this year's budget deficit over two decades it would no longer be the largest on record.

My point is that security for Iraqi oil means watching Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and by ALL means Kuwait . . . the smugglers are small fry . . . good press but small fry.

 

[charrison]

Originally posted by: BaliBabyDoc
Let me see if I get this straight . . . you really believe . . . and I don't mean to put words in your mouth. You really believe the 11 wells on the margin of Iraq's Rumaila oilfield are intended to pump Kuwait's share only?! Damn you are an amazing human being b/c you and your kindred spirits in Kuwait are the most decent people on the planet.

As for the Heritage Foundation BS . . . I actually found the database they referenced; SIPRI database on weapons transfers to Iraq

I bet if we averaged this year's budget deficit over two decades it would no longer be the largest on record.

My point is that security for Iraqi oil means watching Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and by ALL means Kuwait . . . the smugglers are small fry . . . good press but small fry.

Horizontal wells on a shared oil reserve. It is possible for Kuwait to suck out more than its fair share. Kuwait was owed reparations from IRaq. There should have been some sort of agreement to cover that.

What does this years defecit have to do with the cost of weapons supplied to iraq.

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

Horizontal wells on a shared oil reserve. It is possible for Kuwait to suck out more than its fair share. Kuwait was owed reparations from IRaq. There should have been some sort of agreement to cover that.

Dude, those are not shared oil reserves . . . it's the equivalent of LA claiming water rights to the entire Mississippi River watershed . . . actually its closer to RI claiming fishing rights to entire Eastern Seaboard. Kuwait and SA have signed a Neutral Zone agreement which covers 5 billion barrels of proven reserves. I think Kuwait and Iraq have had some off-on poor relations over the past decade or so . . . don't know why.

Actually the US government is encouraging debt forgiveness to allow Iraq to rebuild. Kuwait doesn't deserve payment more than Iran or the decent citizens of Iraq that have suffered under Saddam's regime . . . a regime America helped nurture.

What does this years defecit have to do with the cost of weapons supplied to iraq.

Oh I'm just rambling . . . it says Politics and News but it's still just an extension of ATOT. Then again we did spend billions to destroy a country we helped supply with weapons. We did buy their crude through the UN Oil for Food Program while claiming Saddam was siphoning cash to rebuild his war machine. We basically paid several countries to say they wanted to join the coalition and now we are paying countries to send their troops to the safer regions of Iraq. In total, we are paying the price for not allowing Iran to kick Saddam's arse. Sometimes the enemy of my enemy is just another arsehole.

 

[charrison]

Originally posted by: BaliBabyDoc

Horizontal wells on a shared oil reserve. It is possible for Kuwait to suck out more than its fair share. Kuwait was owed reparations from IRaq. There should have been some sort of agreement to cover that.

Dude, those are not shared oil reserves . . . it's the equivalent of LA claiming water rights to the entire Mississippi River watershed . . . actually its closer to RI claiming fishing rights to entire Eastern Seaboard. Kuwait and SA have signed a Neutral Zone agreement which covers 5 billion barrels of proven reserves. I think Kuwait and Iraq have had some off-on poor relations over the past decade or so . . . don't know why.

Actually the US government is encouraging debt forgiveness to allow Iraq to rebuild. Kuwait doesn't deserve payment more than Iran or the decent citizens of Iraq that have suffered under Saddam's regime . . . a regime America helped nurture.

What does this years defecit have to do with the cost of weapons supplied to iraq.

Oh I'm just rambling . . . it says Politics and News but it's still just an extension of ATOT. Then again we did spend billions to destroy a country we helped supply with weapons. We did buy their crude through the UN Oil for Food Program while claiming Saddam was siphoning cash to rebuild his war machine. We basically paid several countries to say they wanted to join the coalition and now we are paying countries to send their troops to the safer regions of Iraq. In total, we are paying the price for not allowing Iran to kick Saddam's arse. Sometimes the enemy of my enemy is just another arsehole.

And the cost of that is not 400Billion.

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

It's amazing how often we repeat ourselves . . . FreeRepublic
Kuwait has found new reservoirs of high-grade oil in the north-west of the country that could contain as much oil as the world's second largest field, the country's oil minister said.


This thread is pretty funny . . . we sure have come a long ways . . .

 

[LunarRay]

BBD,
Kuwait has found new reservoirs of high-grade oil in the north-west of the country that could contain as much oil as the world's second largest field, the country's oil minister said.
*********************

Well... it seems we've located the pack animals that transported the WMD out of Iraq... kinda quick decay process but .. with all the chemicals they were loaded down with anything is possible. At least Bush can now point to the crude oil and inferentially point to the WMD.. assumed consumed by the process as well.

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

LOL, damn Lunar . . . that one took me a second.

 

[LunarRay]

It fits the government explanation for the Chemical Destruction in Alabama ... ya see we blame it on the Iraqi attempt to hide the WMD which ended up in or part of the crude which we bought as good customers and burned in our vehicles in Alabama and see ... try to do something good for someone and they pay your efforts back with treachery... We need taking over the whole place in order to insure clean oil for our needs..

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

I thought we did take over the whole place . . . oh you mean the entire Middle East. I think the PNAC is working on that one . . . Cheney even has maps. We've got one problem though. Israel might resist leaving . . . oops nevermind . . . there's no oil there.

 

[LunarRay]

By November of '04 all sorts of maps will need changing. Bushville in Iraq, Cheneytown in Afghanistan and the most interesting of the lot.. CongaRiceArabia.... Where the maglev proves oil ain't the reason for the season..