Iraq May Set Oil Wells Afire to Challenge US War

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, February 02, 2003

Iraq May Set Oil Wells Afire to Challenge US War

If the United States launches a military strike against Iraq, Iraq would likely burn down its oil wells to challenge the US bombs and precision-guided missiles, some political analysts here said.

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If the United States launches a military strike against Iraq, Iraq would likely burn down its oil wells to challenge the US bombs and precision-guided missiles, some political analysts here said.

The United States has said it has evidence to prove that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction (WMD). But Iraq denied the allegations as "full of lies" while United Nations inspectors are checking site by site to find any trace of biological, chemical andnuclear weapons in the country.

Forget the war of words between the United States and Iraq. Whatthe United States wants is Iraq's oil, and Iraq has made the preparation, said a former Iraqi information official on Friday. He added if the United States launches a war against Iraq, Iraq will turn oil wells and oil fields into a sea of fire.

There are some 1,500 oil wells in major oil fields in Iraq. 500 of them are near Kurkuk in the north while the other 1,000 wells near Rumalia and other fields in the south, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

Oil wells also could be found near Baghdad and other parts of the country.

If Iraq sets these oil wells on fire, its impacts on ecological environment and the world oil market could be fathomless.

The United States is reportedly working on plans to secure and protect Iraq's oil wells during a war against Iraq.

The options include sending special forces into Iraqi oil fieldsduring the early fighting, using electronic jamming equipment to block a coordinated destruction of hundreds of wells by Iraq, etc.

Yet, although the United States owns overwhelming military forces and advanced technologies, it will find enormous difficulties in "precisely protecting" these oil wells from destruction by Iraq, as it did to Kuwaiti oil wells in 1991.

Iraq's proven oil reserves is estimated at 112 billion barrels, second only to Saudi Arabia and could be greater because vast areashave not been explored.

If US military attacks set this oil-rich country afire or turn it into chaos, the resulting impacts on the oil-rich Gulf Region aswell as the whole world oil market could be unexpected.

Oil prices for Match delivery on major world markets have stood at 33.5 percent on Friday, 40 percent up from early last year.

If the war fire spreads onto Saudi or Kuwaiti oil fields, it would be a disaster to the world oil market.

The United States has been claimed that its goals are to topple the existing Iraqi government and eliminating Iraq's "terror threat" of weapons of mass destruction. But Iraq says the US goal is for Iraq's oil.

No matter what the US real goal is, people worry that if the United States launches a military campaign against Iraq and forces Iraq to use oil wells as "fire bombs", the Iraqi "secret weapons" could be "destructive" to the regional ecological environment and the world oil market.

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