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| Iraq | |
| Iraqi oil industry in serious disrepair | |
| 2003-05-05 | |
The Western oil workers who have made their way to the southern oil fields are amazed when they arrive at the refinery here and see the pile of rusted junk that the Iraqis have been using in the production of their greatest natural commodity. "They have suffered from a lack of investment," said Keith James, a British army warrant officer who also is an engineer for Shell UK, as he stared recently at an ancient cooling tower that was operating for the first time since before the war. "It's remarkable that it is still running. Some of this equipment is 30 to 40 years old. I haven't seen anything like this since I first got into the oil business."
The old surprise meter definitely didn't twitch on that one. The refinery just outside of Basra has a capacity of about 140,000 barrels per day. It is just beginning to get back online after a series of problems including a lack of crude oil coming through the pipelines and too few employees. Officials hoped to produce 70,000 barrels per day by early May. That would be enough to meet local consumption. About 3,000 of South Oil Co.'s 12,000 workers have returned to the job, and the company's top officers recently began doling out pay for the first time since before the war. U.S. Army officials have told South Oil Co. officers that they plan on handing out $20 in U.S. currency to the workers to supplement their paychecks, but the country's oil officials fear that could set a bad precedent. "Once you give them $20, this is something that will be expected," said Kassim Mohammed Ali, the Iraqi Oil Ministry's Basra representative. Cheeze, twenty bucks is about one barrel of oil. What was it they were saying about no long term thinking over there? Further complicating matters is that many of the southern region's 800 to 900 oil wells have suffered salt and water contamination, he said, and it will take time to fix that problem. The refinery is running out of a chemical additive that is necessary for gasoline for local consumption. The chemical, which had been produced by a British chemical company, has been outlawed, and British army officials are trying to track down an alternative chemical. In the meantime, gasoline is being rationed, and the wait at the only two open gas stations in Basra is about eight hours. But for all the problems the refinery is having, officials say things could have been worse. Thaer Ibrahim, the refinery manager, said looting damage to the plant was minimal. From March 20 to April 10, workers armed with guns, sticks and fire hoses guarded the refinery and chased away thieves. "Of course, we feel proud of what we have done," Ibrahim said. "We have done something good for our country. If we want to bring Basra back, we need to be able to provide it with fuel." Let's make sure Thaer is high in the new Oil Ministry. Man sounds like he knew what to do. | |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #3 How 'bout some hidden barrels of good olde tetraethyl lead that nobody else can use? |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-05-05 14:33:26 |
| #2 "The way the old regime would think was they would put in as little as possible and take as much as they could get. There was no thinking about the long term." In my experience in manufacturing, this sounds like many of the CEO's here in the U.S. |
| Posted by: Tom 2003-05-05 09:08:44 |
| #1 The refinery is running out of a chemical additive that is necessary for gasoline for local consumption. The chemical, which had been produced by a British chemical company, has been outlawed, and British army officials are trying to track down an alternative chemical. What, no MTBE? Might I suggest...ethanol? (chortle) |
| Posted by: mojo 2003-05-05 01:57:03 |