HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK ---------------------------
I have a rather unusual place for you to look for more information. When I was working for the World Bank many years ago (just before the Somalia 'humanitarian mission' which provided the grist for the movie 'Black Hawk Down'), I noticed that the World Bank's magazine had an article about the immense new oil finds just off the coast of Somalia. Based on what was exposed in that article, i.e., the large virgin oil fields, America's 'humanitarian mission' to Somalia suddenly made 'American sense'. Just a few words. Carry on comrades, the truth will refuse to dwell permanently under a bushel basket. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bill Howard" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <Undisclosed-Recipient:> Sent: Monday, January 07, 2002 21:07 Subject: THE OIL FACTOR IN SOMALIA [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK] > HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK > --------------------------- > > > [Via Communist Internet... http://www.egroups.com/group/Communist-Internet ] > > [Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ] > . > . > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Dale Pfeiffer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2002 6:18 PM > Subject: Re: [mobilize-globally] THE OIL FACTOR IN SOMALIA > > > I thought the following article was interesting because I have never > heard > of Somalia as an oil producing country. In an effort to confirm it, I did > a > thorough search of numerous energy-oil sites, including dieoff, hubbert > peak, > policy pete, alexandre's oil & gas connection, wtrg economics, > petroleumworld, > and the energy information administration (eia) site. > > The only thing I have been able to find was on the eia site, in a paper > on > the international oil outlook. Here is the paragraph mentioning Somalia: > > North African producers Egypt and Tunisia produce mainly from mature > fields and show little promise of adding to their reserve posture. Their > production volumes are expected to decline gradually throughout the > forecast. Sudan and Equatorial Guinea are expected to produce modest > volumes early in this decade. Eritrea, Somalia, and South Africa also > have some resource potential, but they are not expected to produce > significant amounts until after 2005. > > http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/oil.html > > There is no other mention of Somalia anywhere. The conclusion I draw > is that Somalia has no past history of oil production. Perhaps it does > hold some undiscovered off-shore deposits, but I would doubt that > they are anything major. > > What Somalia does have, is the world's richest deposit of uranium. > > Dale Allen Pfeiffer > > On Sat, 05 Jan 2002 15:21:05 +0200 secr <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > > ------ Forwarded Message > From: Martin Sall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Sat, 05 Jan 2002 00:04:58 -0500 > To: (Recipient list suppressed) > Subject: [CitizensAgainstBush] THE OIL FACTOR IN SOMALIA > > They have it, we want it, and we will do anything necessary to have it no > > matter what the cost. Another from my friend's archives is worth > revisiting considering that Somalia is likely to be back in the news > sometime soon. > m/ > > http://www.netnomad.com/fineman.html > THE OIL FACTOR IN SOMALIA > FOUR AMERICAN PETROLEUM GIANTS HAD AGREEMENTS WITH THE AFRICAN NATION > BEFORE ITS CIVIL WAR BEGAN. THEY COULD REAP BIG REWARDS IF PEACE IS > RESTORED > By MARK FINEMAN > January 18, 1993 > > DATELINE: MOGADISHU, Somalia -- Far beneath the surface of the tragic > drama > of Somalia, four major U.S. oil companies are quietly sitting on a > prospective fortune in exclusive concessions to explore and exploit tens > of > millions of acres of the Somali countryside. > > That land, in the opinion of geologists and industry sources, could yield > > significant amounts of oil and natural gas if the U.S.-led military > mission > can restore peace to the impoverished East African nation. > > According to documents obtained by The Times, nearly two-thirds of > Somalia > was allocated to the American oil giants Conoco, Amoco, Chevron and > Phillips in the final years before Somalia's pro-U.S. President Mohamed > Siad Barre was overthrown and the nation plunged into chaos in January, > 1991. Industry sources said the companies holding the rights to the most > promising concessions are hoping that the Bush Administration's decision > to > send U.S. troops to safeguard aid shipments to Somalia will also help > protect their multimillion-dollar investments there. > > Officially, the Administration and the State Department insist that the > U.S. military mission in Somalia is strictly humanitarian. Oil industry > spokesmen dismissed as "absurd" and "nonsense" allegations by aid > experts, > veteran East Africa analysts and several prominent Somalis that President > > Bush, a former Texas oilman, was moved to act in Somalia, at least in > part, > by the U.S. corporate oil stake. > > But corporate and scientific documents disclosed that the American > companies are well positioned to pursue Somalia's most promising > potential > oil reserves the moment the nation is pacified. And the State Department > and U.S. military officials acknowledge that one of those oil companies > has > done more than simply sit back and hope for pece. > > Conoco Inc., the only major multinational corporation to mantain a > functioning office in Mogadishu throughout the past two years of > nationwide > anarchy, has been directly involved in the U.S. government's role in the > U.N.-sponsored humanitarian military effort. > > Conoco, whose tireless exploration efforts in north-central Somalia > reportedly had yielded the most encouraging prospects just before Siad > Barre's fall, permitted its Mogadishu corporate compound to be > transformed > into a de facto American embassy a few days before the U.S. Marines > landed > in the capital, with Bush's special envoy using it as his temporary > headquarters. In addition, the president of the company's subsidiary in > Somalia won high official praise for serving as the government's > volunteer > "facilitator" during the months before and during the U.S. intervention. > > Describing the arrangement as "a business relationship," an official > spokesman for the Houston-based parent corporation of Conoco Somalia Ltd. > > said the U.S. government was paying rental for its use of the compound, > and > he insisted that Conoco was proud of resident general manager Raymond > Marchand's contribution to the U.S.-led humanitarian effort. > > John Geybauer, spokesman for Conoco Oil in Houston, said the company was > acting as "a good corporate citizen and neighbor" in granting the U.S. > government's request to be allowed to rent the compound. The U.S. Embassy > > and most other buildings and residential compounds here in the capital > were > rendered unusable by vandalism and fierce artillery duels during the clan > > wars that have consumed Somalia and starved its people. > > In its in-house magazine last month, Conoco reprinted excerpts from a > letter of commendation for Marchand written by U.S. Marine Brig. Gen. > Frank > Libutti, who has been acting as military aide to U.S. envoy Robert B. > Oakley. In the letter, Libutti praised the oil official for his role in > the > initial operation to land Marines on Mogadishu's beaches in December, and > > the general concluded, "Without Raymond's courageous contributions and > selfless service, the operation would have failed." > > But the close relationship between Conoco and the U.S. intervention force > > has left many Somalis and foreign development experts deeply troubled by > the blurry line between the U.S. government and the large oil company, > leading many to liken the Somalia operation to a miniature version of > Operation Desert Storm, the U.S.-led military effort in January, 1991, to > > drive Iraq from Kuwait and, more broadly, safeguard the world's largest > oil > reserves. > > "They sent all the wrong signals when Oakley moved into the Conoco > compound," said one expert on Somalia who worked with one of the four > major > companies as they intensified their exploration efforts in the country in > > the late 1980s. > > "It's left everyone thinking the big question here isn't famine relief > but > oil -- whether the oil concessions granted under Siad Barre will be > transferred if and when peace is restored," the expert said. "It's > potentially worth billions of dollars, and believe me, that's what the > whole game is starting to look like." > > Although most oil experts outside Somalia laugh at the suggestion that > the > nation ever could rank among the world's major oil producers -- and most > maintain that the international aid mission is intended simply to feed > Somalia's starving masses -- no one doubts that there is oil in Somalia. > The only question: How much? > > "It's there. There's no doubt there's oil there," said Thomas E. > O'Connor, > the principal petroleum engineer for the World Bank, who headed an > in-depth, three-year study of oil prospects in the Gulf of Aden off > Somalia's northern coast. > > "You don't know until you study a lot further just how much is there," > O'Connor said. "But it has commercial potential. It's got high potential > . > . . once the Somalis get their act together." > > O'Connor, a professional geologist, based his conclusion on the findings > of > some of the world's top petroleum geologists. In a 1991 World > Bank-coordinated study, intended to encourage private investment in the > petroleum potential of eight African nations, the geologists put Somalia > and Sudan at the top of the list of prospective commercial oil producers. > > Presenting their results during a three-day conference in London in > September, 1991, two of those geologists, an American and an Egyptian, > reported that an analysis of nine exploratory wells drilled in Somalia > indicated that the region is "situated within the oil window, and thus > (is) > highly prospective for gas and oil." A report by a third geologist, Z. R. > > Beydoun, said offshore sites possess "the geological parameters conducive > > to the generation, expulsion and trapping of significant amounts of oil > and > gas." > > Beydoun, who now works for Marathon Oil in London, cautioned in a recent > interview that on the basis of his findings alone, "you cannot say there > definitely is oil," but he added: "The different ingredients for > generation > of oil are there. The question is whether the oil generated there has > been > trapped or whether it dispersed or evaporated." > > Beginni 1986, Conoco, along with Amoco, Chevron, Phillips and, briefly, > Shell all sought and obtained exploration licenses for northern Somalia > from Siad Barre's government. Somalia was soon carved up into > concessional > blocs, with Conoco, Amoco and Chevron winning the right to explore and > exploit the most promising ones. > > The companies' interest in Somalia clearly predated the World Bank study. > > It was grounded in the findings of another, highly successful exploration > > effort by the Texas-based Hunt Oil Corp. across the Gulf of Aden in the > Arabian Peninsula nation of Yemen, where geologists disclosed in the > mid-1980s that the estimated 1 billion barrels of Yemeni oil reserves > were > part of a great underground rift, or valley, that arced into and across > northern Somalia. > > Hunt's Yemeni operation, which is now yielding nearly 200,000 barrels of > oil a day, and its implications for the entire region were not lost on > then-Vice President George Bush. > > In fact, Bush witnessed it firsthand in April, 1986, when he officially > dedicated Hunt's new $18-million refinery near the ancient Yemeni town of > > Marib. In remarks during the event, Bush emphasized the critical value of > > supporting U.S. corporate efforts to develop and safeguard potential oil > reserves in the region. > > In his speech, Bush stressed "the growing strategic importance to the > West > of developing crude oil sources in the region away from the Strait of > Hormuz," according to a report three weeks later in the authoritative > Middle East Economic Survey. > > Bush's reference was to the geographical choke point that controls access > > to the Persian Gulf and its vast oil reserves. It came at the end of a > 10-day Middle East tour in which the vice president drew fire for > appearing > to advocate higher oil and gasoline prices. > > "Throughout the course of his 17,000-mile trip, Bush suggested continued > low (oil) prices would jeopardize a domestic oil industry 'vital to the > national security interests of the United States,' which was interpreted > at > home and abroad as a sign the onetime oil driller from Texas was coming > to > the aid of his former associates," United Press International reported > from > Washington the day after Bush dedicated Hunt's Yemen refinery. > > No such criticism accompanied Bush's decision late last year to send more > > than 20,000 U.S. troops to Somalia, widely applauded as a bold and costly > > step to save an estimated 2 million Somalis from starvation by opening up > > relief supply lines and pacifying the famine-struck nation. > > But since the U.S. intervention began, neither the Bush Administration > nor > any of the oil companies that had been active in Somalia up until the > civil > war broke out in early 1991 have commented publicly on Somalia's > potential > for oil and natural gas production. Even in private, veteran oil company > exploration experts played down any possible connection between the > Administration's move into Somalia and the corporate concessions at > stake. > > "In the oil world, Somalia is a fringe exploration area," said one Conoco > > executive who asked not to be named. "They've overexaggerated it," he > said > of the geologists' optimism about the prospective oil reserves there. And > > as for Washington's motives in Somalia, he brushed aside criticisms that > have been voiced quietly in Mogadishu, saying, "With America, there is a > genuine humanitarian streak in us . . . that many other countries and > cultures cannot understand." > > But the same source added that Conoco's decision to maintain its > headquarters in the Somali capital even after it pulled out the last of > its > major equipment in the spring of 1992 was certainly not a humanitarian > one. > And he confirmed that the company, which has explored Somalia in three > major phases beginning in 1952, had achieved "very good oil shows" -- > industry terminology for an exploration phase that often precedes a major > > discovery -- just before the war broke out. > > "We had these very good shows," he said. "We were pleased. That's why > Conoco stayed on. . . . The people in Houston are convinced there's oil > there." > > Indeed, the same Conoco World article that praised Conoco's general > manager > in Somalia for his role in the humanitarian effort quoted Marchand as > saying, "We stayed because of Somalia's potential for the company and to > protect our assets." > > Marchand, a French citizen who came to Somalia from Chad after a civil > war > forced Conoco to suspend operations there, explained the role played by > his > firm in helping set up the U.S.-led pacification mission in Mogadishu. > > "When the State Department asked Conoco management for assistance, I was > glad to use the company's influence in Somalia for the success of this > mission," he said in the magazine article. "I just treated it like a > company operation -- like moving a rig. I did it for this operation > because > the (U.S.) officials weren't familiar with the environment." > > Marchand and his company were clearly familiar with the anarchy into > which > Somalia has descended over the past two years -- a nation with no > functioning government, no utilities and few roads, a place ruled loosely > > by regional warlords. > > Of the four U.S. companies holding the Siad Barre-era oil concessions, > Conoco is believed to be the only one that negotiated what spokesman > Geybauer called "a standstill agreement" with an interim government set > up > by one of Mogadishu's two principal warlords, Ali Mahdi Mohamed. Industry > > sources said the other U.S. companies with contracts in Somalia cited > "force majeure" (superior power), a legal term asserting that they were > forced by the war to abandon their exploration efforts and would return > as > soon as peace is restored. > > "It's going to be very interesting to see whether these agreements are > still good," said Mohamed Jirdeh, a prominent Somali businessman in > Mogadishu who is familiar with the oil-concession agreements. "Whatever > Siad did, all those records and contracts, all disappeared after he fled. > . > . . And this period has brought with it a deep change of our society. > > "Our country is now very weak, and, of course, the American oil companies > > are very strong. This has to be handled very diplomatically, and I think > the American government must move out of the oil business, or at least > make > clear that there is a definite line separating the two, if they want to > maintain a long-term relationship here." > > Fineman, Times bureau chief in Nicosia, Cyprus, was recently in Somalia. > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > Yahoo! Groups Sponsor > ADVERTISEMENT > > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service > <http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> . > > ------ End of Forwarded Message > > > Yahoo! Groups Sponsor > ADVERTISEMENT > > > > > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! 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