E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSUpdated at 1:30 a.m. ET
BASRA, Iraq -- Three bombs hit an oil pipeline in southern Iraq on Tuesday, just as the general in charge of Iraq's 40,000 energy protection troops said patrols had been stepped up due to concerns of an al-Qaida surge ahead of the U.S. pullout on Dec. 31.
The blasts hit a pipeline that transports crude from Iraq's southern oilfields to storage tanks around the oil hub of Basra.
"The fire was put out at 7 a.m. A network of pipelines was damaged," the oil official told Reuters.
Iraq asked international oil companies working in its southern oilfields to reduce production after the Tuesday bomb attack, an industry source said on Wednesday.
It was not immediately clear if the request to reduce oil production was taken as a precautionary measure or was due to damage to the pipelines, the source said.
In Iraq's oil rich southern region, the United States is building a massive consulate in Basra. The consulate is situated just miles from Iraq's border with Iran. One security officer says it's like building a consulate on Omaha Beach. Some of the 1,320 people who work there call it "Fort Apache." If Iranian backed militias were to launch a full scale attack on this consulate, would the U.S. military ride to the rescue? Ted Koppel reports.
"The explosions happened in succession and caused an enormous fire," one source at the scene said. "We cannot go near the explosion site because the fire is still raging ... we fear the fire might extend to other nearby oil pipelines."
The source said the oil police were checking other pipelines for more bombs.
An oil official in Basra confirmed the blast was caused by a bomb attack.
In early June, militants blew up a storage tank at the Zubair 1 storage facility, despite tight security.
Basra, which handles the bulk of Iraq's oil exports, has generally seen fewer attacks this year than other cities in the country following an overall decline in levels of violence since the peak of sectarian conflict in Iraq in 2006-07.
Atef Hassan / Reuters
An Iraqi policeman stands guard near oil that leaked from a pipepline bombed a day earlier, on Oct. 7, in the Rumaila oilfield near Basra.
In October, two bombs hit pipeline networks transporting crude from Iraq's Rumaila oilfield, the country's biggest, cutting output from the field to 530,000 barrels per day from about 1.24 million bpd.
Multibillion-dollar deals Baghdad signed with energy majors could quadruple oil output capacity to Saudi levels within six years, but that depends on the OPEC member securing oilfields, refineries and other vital infrastructure.
Maj. Gen. Hamid Ibrahim, head of Iraq's energy protection force, said half of all attacks planned by al-Qaida targeted the country's oil sector. His force has so far managed to foil most attempts, he said.
"There is direct targeting of the oil sector ... By the start of the withdrawal there will be attacks not just on oil, but they (insurgents) will try to rattle the situation in the country," he told Reuters. "We are ready and on alert".
Although Iraq took responsibility for the security of its oil sector in 2005, the United States has still been providing aerial surveillance and other support to battle Sunni insurgents and Shiite militia, who have plagued the country since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
But by the end of December -- nearly nine years after the U.S.-led invasion -- only a small contingent of civilian trainers and fewer than 200 U.S. military personnel will remain.
The Iraq-Turkey pipeline in the north, which carries around a quarter of Iraq's oil exports, is regularly hit by sabotage, usually blamed on al-Qaida and former members of Saddam Hussein's banned Baath party.
PhotoBlog: Suspicious Iraqi minds in a squatters camp
Ibrahim said Iraqi security forces had foiled more than four plots against the nearby southern Doura refinery and were now coordinating with the Iraqi air force to monitor oil sites and pipelines.
The poorly equipped force has also received Hummer military vehicles and other supplies from U.S. forces as they pack up, he said.
"We used to dream of having a few cars to reinforce our forces, now we have thousands," he said. "Now we have good equipment, guns and bullets. It is a positive thing."
The government has built blast walls and watch towers and installed cameras and is talking to foreign investors such as British oil major BP to train the force, he said.
But Ibrahim added that his 40,000-strong force was still stretched, especially in the vast west of the country.
"We have shortages and we can't say we are self-sufficient ... The worry that we have now is that some oilfields in the western parts are vast fields," he said.
Read more content from msnbc.com and NBC News:
- Hunt for terrorists shifts to 'dangerous' North Africa, Panetta says
- US halts $700 million in Pakistan aid, demands action on Taliban
- Chinese artist depicts portraits of corruption
- 4 killed in grenade attack on Belgium market
- New laws protect women from abuse in Pakistan
- Netherlands proposes ritual slaughtering ban
Leave a Comment:
Money well spent there!
Invading Iraq was a big mess, I dont know if we can afford another Iran invasion war mess!
Even, us troops now leaving Iraq, bombing didnt stop there! This war have no ending and it s only getting worse!
God help us all
As I have been beating the "drum" re: Iraq, The US Government is the "babysitter" there.
Al-Qaida knows US Military Forces are leaving, so the chaos of Terrorism will keep on going, with Maliki at the Helm--He is crooked as well. Saddam Hussein might as well be in Power there. Who said Al-Qaida has weakened as a Terrorist Operation?
It is unbelievable that the present President lives in such an unreal Military World. Commander in Chief of all US Military Forces. Giving dates out to our Enemy is an open door for them to now come in and take over. Hopefully, our Soldiers, and Ally Country's Soldiers did not Die in Vain.
That is the case in Egypt. It was a huge Mistake to endorse the capture of Mubarak, welcoming the Muslim Brotherhood..
The ME is definitely better off run by Leaders who tell the people what to do, and how to live.. That is all the ME knows. They are illiterate, and each Warring Tribe will be on the loose again.
What progress has been made?. A solid Democracy?---is that a Democracy in the true sense.
Mass Graves, mass murders, suicide bombers will continue and undue all the good that was done there.
It is exasperating, to say the least.
Stability is as inevitable as the leader who will impose it. When a Saddam Housien like dictator takes power, the ruthless power drive required to insure aggressive political and religious parties will ensure cooperation just as it was before President Bush decided to teach them who was boss. At least we learned the hard way that Russia and Britain were not weak for pulling out and the U.S. is not that much better.
Inside job, Iraq doesn't want to see Uncle Sam go......or C.I.A. up to it's tricks!
Their will be over 5000 US citizens still in Iraq after the troop withdrawal. Consulate people, military trainers, oil people, private security people etc etc etc. Soon Iran will figure that if they send their oil to Iraq they sanctions will be useless. Iraq will soon be a satellite state of Iran unless a civil war breaks out. That put them on the border of Saudia Arabia and closer to Israel.
I Would truley hope there will be a air support close & ready for action to protect our citizens "only" in case of a complete overrun of that base and other facilities in the near future.
Devil's Son:
You have the future in Iraq figured out. Great post!
Let's see what the "oil police" does. Why should I care?
Damn... bet they use this as a reason to increase the oil prices another 50cents per gallon
Who the hell wrote this stupid headline - makes no sense. Like, what's an "oil troop" ?
I don't remember Iraqi oil pipelines and cities getting bombed when Saddam was in charge. Iraq will have to send thank you notes to Bush, Cheney and the neocons for bringing the mess and the turmoil.
Now America is still stuck paying the enormous bills for the war, for the aftermath and to care for the tens of thousands of wounded veterans for the next 60 years.
Now the Republicans cannot wait to start a war with Iran over their nuclear energy program. They want Iran to prove it doesn't have a nuclear weapons program, just like they wanted Saddam to prove he didn't have WMD. Its like saying, "prove to me you didn't read the encyclopedia". How does one prove a negative?
A complete withdrawal might not be possible. I know America needs cheap oil and Iraq need money to rebuilt, again, their country. I suggest they save their environment and push for green technology as they rebuild. They have to have internal peace or any effort will be a waste of time and money and they will never be happy. That is theirs to establish. Saddam is gone and they can vote. Hopefully that will go well. I wish them the best.
Radical Islamic terrorists blowing up the oil pipeline in Iraq, their only real source of income. Looks like they're celebrating our departure. Stay tuned, the show's about to start.
Yes I agree. This is only the beginning. I am sure Iran is causing a lot of trouble in Iraq also. I believe they would love to take over Iraq. If we don't do it, I hope somebody else blows up all their nuclear sites.
As troops return home,
We must win a new conflict,
Inspire new peace.
Could this be the work of Iran's Quds working through Shiite sympathizers like Sadr, to soften the country up before bringing the "true" religion into the country....on the backs of Iranian "religious warriors"?
Yes, it is. My husband works there for an oil company. Iran won't 'invade' as many on these forums are speculating. They are working in the background through some of the clerics to cause these disruptions. Basra is the hub of Iraq's oil industry. However, Basra has also been much more metropolitan than the rest of the country. There it's all about money. In the long run money will win. But it will probably be a while before the Iraqis get it under control. If they don't, the international oil companies will leave because they won't be able to get people to work there and the Iraqis just aren't capable of getting their infrastructure rebuilt without the expats expertise.
My husband was there for 4 years during the reconstruction and when that was pretty much over they left a lot of new infrastructure built and ready to go. In the last 3 years the Iraqis have just let it go. Their engineers were 'raised' under Saddam and they have no experience in making decisions, handling project deadlines, etc. Without the IOCs (international oil companies) they will not be able to sustain their production. They need to spend over $1 billion a year just to maintain what they have and without increased production it just won't happen and they know it.
Gladly my husband just left Basra and is staying in Istanbul right now with no plans to go back until after the first of the year and we see how things pan out. If it gets bad, well, I guess he will just be retiring a couple of years earlier than we had planned.
Yep, it was impossible to see this coming...
and hopefully obama will bring the troops home from afghanistan. He said he would. He just made us believe it would be soon. Well on the bright side when the troops all come home we will have a shaky peace but peace nontheless. Peace thats where everybody stands around reloading.