Iraq 90 pct unexplored for oil, 60 pct of reserves in undeveloped fields -

[sabra]

http://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited/feeds/afx/2006/07/12/afx2874048.html

Iraq 90 pct unexplored for oil, 60 pct of reserves in undeveloped fields - IEA


PARIS (AFX) - Only 10 pct of Iraq has been explored for oil and 60 pct of proven reserves are in undeveloped fields, the International Energy Agency said in a report that assessed the opportunities for development in the country.

However, ongoing security concerns, corruption, sabotage and political uncertainty make a government output target of 4.0 mln barrels per day by 2010 'appear optimistic', the agency warned.

The comments were contained in a report on the medium-term outlook for the oil industry which included a section on the Iraqi industry.

The IEA said its forecast for Iraqi production capacity for the five years to 2011 was an average 2.5 mln barrels per day, only slightly higher than current levels of 2.0 mbd and below the government target of 4.0 mbd.

[givemebackmycountry]

1. OH!.....But we're not planning on staying there forever...No Way!

Why would we want to stay there forever?
We only want to spread Democracy!
We only want to free the Iraqi people!

:sarcasm:

[sabra]

2. When you see dates like 2011... :-(

[neoblues]

4. I wouldn't be surprised...

Secret Republican Thinking...

We only want to spread Democracy Polio
We only want to free the Iraqi people! (from their lives AND their oil)
Why would we want to stay there forever? (ever heard of "Peak Oil"?)

If most Republicans aren't wishing they could spread (a modern equivalent of) Polio to the natives in IRAQ rather than just "Democracy" (we're here to "free" you... why yes, these blankets are just for you!). They'd be tickled pink if IRAQ suddenly suffered a massive decline in population--and therefore needed American immigrants (the Neo American "Wild West"). Besides, IRAQ would no doubt become an exotic vacation destination (for the wealthy) if only the populace were properly controlled (and grateful for the meager charity of enough food to survive)...

Perhaps I'm just imagining the worst; that I could imagine such greedy inhumanity, though, I blame on the fact I grew up with and around "conservatives". That large numbers of them really think a nuclear strike sufficient to de-populate IRAQ would be a good solution isn't half joking (and they are scarcely able to even appreciate the consequences and global environmental impact of such a thing just increases their enthusiasm).

Seems to me we need a better word for these people. "Conservatives", "Republicans", etc., don't quite do them justice. "Swine" is closer, but not quite satisfying... Alas...

[dysfunctional press]

3. Mission: ACCOMPLISHED!!

if that oil were allowed to come to market, it would really put a dent in the world maket price, and with it the oil companies profits.

greg knows:

http://www.gregpalast.com/yes-its-about-oil#more-1430

[Skarbrowe]

20. I'm reading Palast's "Armed Madhouse" right now. Now I know why

Cheney had Ken Lay in the those secret energy meetings. Enron created a faux shortage of electical energy to steal as much as they could from California and elsewhere and that is exactly what's going on with Big Oil. Greg seems to think they we have plenty of oil left in wells that are already functioning and much more yet to be discovered. It doesn't mean we shouldn't start using other energy sources, it only means that the constant drum beat of peak oil is a good way to keep the scare tactic of shortage on everyone's mind so the Big Oil guys can manipulate the price up and up. The book also gives me the best reason of why we went after Saddam that I've yet to hear, although I don't think it was the only reason. And it certainly wasn't about WMD.

The book is a great read. Love Greg Palast!

[wisteria]

5. The Bush Doctrine- to hell with human lives, we have to protect the

oil.
Why, are they allowed to continually get away with blurring the real reason we are in Iraq? How come our Dem's and the media don't speak out more on this? I know Senator Kerry has spoke of this and our dependency on oil, but we need additional voices also.

[Skink]

6. The oil companies since 1925 when they carved up Iraq...

and signed no drill agreements pretty much said we'll save this oil for later. Keep the price high on the rest of it.
Husseins mistake was trying to bring more oil than the quota to market and then trade it in Euros to boot.

[warrens]

7. Check out Greg Palast's book, Armed Madhouse

According to his research, we're not there to steal oil, but to keep it from being pumped to keep the price up on the world market. At one point, oil companies actually built wells on land they knew had no oil to disprove the contention that they were artificially keeping oil off the world market. Saddam was pumping over quota when he felt like it and playing havoc with oil prices.

Chavez is doing something similar in Venezuela, and look what almost happened to him.

[Strelnikov_]

16. Production Record Does Not Support Palast's Claim

If the intent of the neocons was to keep Iraq's oil off the market (a whole 2.5 Mbbl/dy), as he 'reports', why invade? The following graph shows their production was going downhill long before the invasion.

There is a lot of speculation in the oil industry that Iraq has much undiscovered oil, as the article suggests. Getting these reserves into the hands of US based 'Big Oil' was the goal. Private companies hold only 3% of the worlds remaining oil reserves. Iraq was one of the last shots for them to increase this percentage.

http://www.theoildrum.com.nyud.net:8090/uploads/12/iraq_prod_rigs_april.png

[KittyWampus]

8. What kind of oil are they talking about? Sweet crude or the harder to get

lower quality stuff?

I find it hard to believe there's that much easily accessible, sweet crude left to be drilled or even FOUND.

Are they playing a semantics game here?

[mhatrw]

14. Wrong. There's enough sweet crude under Iraq for at least 10 years

worth of world oil at our current rate of use.

They invaded to INCREASE, not decrease the price of oil. They needed to control Iraq's spigot. Iraq has more untapped sweet crude than any other country -- by a long shot.

[daleo]

9. 90% is unexplored

That may just refer to areas that are not geologically feasible. 60% of reserves in undeveloped fields probably means these are quite speculative figures (i.e. unproven reserves).

Nonetheless, this will get Cheney's shriveled heart beating.

[yurbud]

10. so we invaded for WMD, terrorism, & democracy or trillions & trillions of

bucks worth of oil for Bush's cronies?

[Up2Late]

11. Not only that, It's very close to the surface, so it would be cheap to...

...develop, or at least it was until some Dumb*ss started a WAR there. :argh:

Be sure to note the date on this report from Global Policy Forum (December, 2002).

Global Policy Forum’s mission is to monitor policy making at the United Nations, promote accountability of global decisions, educate and mobilize for global citizen participation, and advocate on vital issues of international peace and justice: <http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/oil/2002/12heart.htm>

Still, I'm sure Condi would label the claim "ridiculous" that this War was about Oil. :eyes:

...Why Iraq’s Oil is so coveted by the big companies?

Oil in Iraq is especially attractive to the big international oil companies because of three factors:

(1)high quality/high value product
Iraq’s oil is generally of high quality because it has attractive chemical properties, notably high carbon content, lightness and low sulfur content, that make it especially suitable for refining into the high-value products. For these reasons, Iraqi oil commands a premium on the world market.

(2)huge supplies
Iraq’s oil is very plentiful. The country’s proven reserves in 2002 were listed at 112.5 billion barrels, about 11% of the world total. With little exploration since the nationalization of the industry in 1972, many promising areas remain unexplored. Experts believe that Iraq has potential reserves substantially above 200 billion barrels. The Energy Information Administration of the US Department of Energy has estimated that Iraqi reserves could possibly total over 400 billion barrels. If new exploration fulfills such high-end predictions, Iraq’s reserves could prove close to those of Saudi Arabia, now listed at 260 billion barrels but likely also to go considerably higher as well. The Department of Energy assessment says that:

“Iraq contains 112 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, the second largest in the world (behind Saudi Arabia) along with roughly 220 billion barrels of probable and possible resources. Iraq’s true potential may be far greater than this, however, as the country is relatively unexplored due to years of war and sanctions. Deep oil-bearing formations located mainly in the vast Western Desert region, for instance, could yield large additional oil resources (possibly another 100 billion barrels), but have not been explored.” <http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/iraq.html>...

(clip)

...(3)exceptionally low production costs, yielding a high per barrel profit
The US Department of Energy states that “Iraq’s oil production costs are amongst the lowest in the world, making it a highly attractive oil prospect.” This is because Iraq’s oil comes in enormous fields that can be tapped by relatively shallow wells, producing a high “flow rate.” Iraq’s oil rises rapidly to the surface, because of high pressure on the oil reservoir from water and from associated natural gas deposits.

(more at link) <http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/oil/2002/12heart.htm>

[IDemo]

17. Saudi Arabia spuriously doubled their "proved" reserves in the 90's

jumping up to the 260 billion barrel figure overnight, a figure the EIA cheerfully agreed with, and that the corporate media gleefully quotes in every story regarding Saudi reserves. They have been injecting up to 7 million barrels of seawater daily since 1965 just to keep the pressure up at the wellhead, and are recovering a sizeable amount of that water (the "water cut") with each barrel recovered.

Matthew Simmons and others who have actually spent some time investigating the issue are highly doubtful of expanding capacity in the Ghawar or elsewhere in Saudi Aramco's domain.

http://searchingforthetruth.typepad.com/searching_for_the_truth/2005/05/the_questionabl.html

[AirAmFan]

12. This may explain why Cheney's secret "Energy Task Force" had MAPS

of Iraqi oilfields. Remember how Crazy Larry Klaman got copies of those maps from the WH through a FOIA lawsuit? They're still posted online at http://www.judicialwatch.org/printer_iraqi-oilfield-pr.shtml .

[mhatrw]

13. Isn't it clear why we invaded now? Iraq has NEVER produced more

than 4 million barrels a day, despite having the second most oil reserves in the world.

Once the sanctions were lifted or enough countries went around them, Hussein would have had every reason to flood the market with cheap (and cheap to produce) Iraqi oil.

We invaded Iraq to keep oil prices HIGH! Yes, Big Oil wants Iraqi oil, bit even more critically, they needed control of the spigot to control prices and increase profits!

[truthisfreedom]

15. which explains exactly why bush always says "there's nothing wrong with

high oil prices" and "there's nothing we can do about high oil prices."

BUSHCO WANTS HIGH OIL PRICES.

[Up2Late]

18. Check out this, from the EIA report linked in my post above...

Iraq’s oil exports go overwhelmingly through the southern port of Basra. Since the war, Iraq’s northern route to Turkey has been largely inoperable due to war damage and frequent sabotage

<http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/Iraq/Oil.html>

...Under optimal conditions, and including routes through both Syria and Saudi Arabia that are now closed or being utilized for other purposes, Iraq's oil export infrastructure could handle throughput of more than 6 million bbl/d (2.8 via the Gulf, 1.65 via Saudi Arabia, 1.6 via Turkey, and perhaps 300,000 bbl/d or so via Jordan and Syria). However, Iraq's export facilities (pipelines, ports, pumping stations, etc.) were seriously disrupted by the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), the 1990/1991 Gulf War, the most recent war in March/April 2003, and periodic looting and sabotage since then.

Between April 2003 and June 2006, there were an estimated 315 attacks on Iraqi energy infrastructure, including the country's 4,350-mile-long pipeline system and 11,000-mile-long power grid. In response to these attacks, which have cost Iraq billions of dollars in lost oil export revenues and repair costs, the U.S. military set up Task Force Shield to guard Iraq's energy infrastructure, particularly the Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline. In August 2003, a South African security company, Erinys International, won a $40 million contract to train 6,500 armed guard to protect Iraqi oil wells, pipelines, refineries, and power plants, mostly in southern Iraq. Until late 2004, when the Iraqi Oil Ministry took charge of security at oil facilities, Erinys operated as part of a $100 million joint contract with approximately 14,000 guards (mainly Iraqi nationals). In support of Erinys, Florida-based AirScan Inc. provides aerial surveillance of Iraqi pipelines. Under Saddam Hussein, Iraqi pipelines were guarded in part by local tribes, and in part by two army divisions....

(clip)

(HELLO! Here's the real reason , but un-spinable, reason for the for the war with Iraq!)
...Between 2001 and March 2003, Iraq and Syria utilized the 50-year-old, 32-inch Banias oil pipeline in violation of U.N. sanctions. The Banias line, from Iraq's northern Kirkuk oil fields to Syria's Mediterranean port of Banias (and Tripoli, Lebanon), reportedly was being used to transport as much as 200,000 bbl/d of Iraqi oil, mainly from southern Iraq, to Syrian refineries at Homs and Banias. The oil was sold at a significant price discount and freed up additional Syrian oil for export. Iraq and Syria also had talked of building a new, parallel pipeline as a replacement for the Banias line. In March 2003, flows on the pipeline were halted, although the U.S. Defense Department denied that its forces had targeted the line. In early March 2004, it was reported (by Dow Jones) that the Iraq-Syria pipeline was ready for use at 250,000 bbl/d.

During the Iran-Iraq War, Iraq also built a pipeline through Saudi Arabia (called IPSA) to the Red Sea port of Mu'ajiz, just north of Yanbu. IPSA has a design capacity of 1.65 million bbl/d, but was closed after Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990. In June 2001, Saudi Arabia expropriated the IPSA line, despite Iraqi protests. In June 2003, Thamir Ghadban said that he hoped Iraq would be able to use the IPSA line again. However, the Saudis have stated that they are not willing to do this, having converted the line to carry natural gas to the Red Sea industrial city of Yanbu for domestic use.

(more at link) <http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/Iraq/Oil.html>

[bamacrat]

19. WAIT...so there was a reason?

[Up2Late]

21. Of course there was, but not something that most would start a war over

That was the first mistake.

[hatrack]

22. What's the diff? You can take it down with a camel & some Semtex . . .

So who the hell cares?