Oil pipeline on fire

[cal04]

A POWERFUL blast caused a fire in key oil pipeline infrastructure in northern Iraq today, an Iraqi security official said. A section of a major pipeline hub near Kirkuk, with arteries to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan as well as to domestic depots and refineries, was set ablaze at 10.25pm local time (6.25am AEDT).

It was not clear which routes were affected by the blast.
"We've sent a patrol to see which one was hit," the official said.
No one was available for comment at the oil ministry.


The pipelines feeding Ceyhan terminal from the northern oilfields have been regularly sabotaged by insurgents since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein by US-led troops in April 2003.


http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11750274%255E1702,00.html

[maxsolomon]

1. Sun Tzu

Since the insurgency is using it as a step by step Blueprint, maybe one of the GOP geniuses over at the White House should get around to reading it.

Or is that too much to ask?

[mia]

8. Thanks for the reminder

SUN-TZU: THE PRINCIPLES OF WARFARE
"THE ART OF WAR"

Chapter Twelve: Fire Attacks

Sun-tzu said

There are five kinds of fire attacks:

One, burning personnel;

two, burning provisions;

three, burning equipment;

four, burning stores;

five, burning weapons.

more

[DireStrike]

9. PNAC hates Sun Tzu

It sure seems like they aren't listening to a single fucking thing he wrote.

Except, perhaps, they are taking literally that comment about "a cart of our enemies' supplies is worth 20 of our own." It might work better if we could actually get their supplies out of the ground, or if the Iraqis were our enemies.

[bpilgrim]

11. "many calculations, victory, few calculations, no victory,"

"then how much less so when no calculations?

By means of these, I can observe them, beholding victory or defeat!" - SUN-TZU

more...
http://www.sonshi.com/sun1.html

we are in DEEP SHIT :scared:

peace

[KansDem]

2. Can't Time's POTY "fix" this?

Like he intends to "fix" Social Security?

C'mon, George, say it ain't so and get the "Mesquite Mafia" on this, pronto!

[benburch]

3. We are winning hearts and minds.

Oh yeah, things are going well in Iraq!

[OneBlueSky]

4. ain't gonna be much oil flowing out of that country . . .

for a l-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ng time . . .

[VegasWolf]

5. Poor, poor Halliburton. let's give them more gov money to make

them feel better.

[kuozzman]

6. DOE Country Brief

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/iraq.html
Map of Iraq's pipelines: http://www.un.org/Depts/oip/map.html

The 600-mile, Kirkuk-Ceyhan (Turkey) dual pipeline is Iraq's largest crude oil export line. The 40-inch line has a fully-operational capacity of 1.1 million bbl/d, but reportedly could handle only around 900,000 bbl/d pre-war. The second, parallel, 46-inch line has an optimal capacity of 500,000 bbl/d and was designed to carry Basra Regular exports. Combined, the two parallel lines have an optimal capacity of around 1.6 million bbl/d. Unfortunately, Kirkuk-Ceyhan has been a main target for sabotage since June 2003. Currently, Kirkuk-Ceyhan appears to be open (as of mid-October 2004) but is operating far below capacity (300,000-500,000 bbl/d), with significant repairs still required. Among other problems, the line was damaged by a bridge ("Al Fatah," located near Baiji) that collapsed on it after being bombed by U.S. planes during the war, requiring major repairs, including the drilling of a new tunnel under the Tigris River. In addition, the IT-1 pumping station on the Kirkuk-Ceyhan line was damaged by looters, but reportedly is operable manually.

OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY
Major Oil Fields (proven reserves - billion barrels, 2004E): Majnoon (12-30), West Qurna (11.3-15.0), East Baghdad (11+), Kirkuk (10+), Rumaila (10+), Bin Umar (6+), Rattawi (3.1), Halfaya (2.5-4.6), Nassiriya (2-2.6), Suba-Luhais (2.2), Tuba (1.5), Khurmala (1.0), Gharaf (1.0-1.1), Rafidain (0.7), Amara (0.5)


CFR Post War Report: http://www.cfr.org/pdf/Post-War_Iraq.pdf

[kuozzman]

7. This is exactly what Bin Laden said to do in his last tape.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4101021.stm
"Targeting America in Iraq in terms of economy and loss of life is a golden and unique opportunity... Be active and prevent them from reaching the oil, and mount your operations accordingly, particulary in Iraq and the Gulf,"

[cal04]

10. They've been doing this for a long time

the list just keeps getting longer

http://www.iags.org/iraqpipelinewatch.htm

[cliss]

12. That's exactly it.

He asked his followers to consider disabling ships in the straits of Hormuz and "particularly Iraq". I didn't read the entire speech, but I did read that part.

At this point, I'm wondering ---

a) How many attacks does this make? I almost didn't read this thread because I thought it was a dupe, because there was a similar thread yesterday about the oil pipeline being attacked. I wonder if there are any statistics on the number of attacks. Are they going up?

b) How much is this costing Halliburton to fix? I had read somewhere that every time the pipeline is blown up, it costs $1,000,000 to fix (our taxpayer money, of course!). It seems like every day, there is more sabotage to the pipe line.

[durablend]

14. You don't think Halliburton would blow them up?

NAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH...

Never happen...

:eyes:

[Algorem]

15. What a gold mine Iraq has been for certain people.

[bling bling]

13. If all the oil was burned up,

how fast would we high-tail it out of there, do you think? Not that oil has anything to do with it. We're there to liberate the Iraqi's.