Friday, November 9, 2007
Iran-Iraq Oil Pipeline: So much for Iraqi anti-Iran effort!
Today, http://www.iraqoilreport.com reports that groundbreaking has taken place on an oil pipeline from Iraq to Iran. Crude will be shipped there to be refined. Another pipeline is being planned to ship refined products back to Iraq. So much for Bush's effort to get the Iraqis on board with an anti-Iran war effort!
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I thought Iran didn't have any refineries. They had a gasoline crisis recently because they have to export their oil somewhere to get it refined and then import it back. Somebody's bluffing somebody here.
Nine operational refineries in Iran but total capacity is only around 1.7 million barrels/day, which they plan to increase to 2 million.
Eight new privately financed refineries, an additional 1.4 million barrels, are said to be in the planning stage.
I recall there is a lot more to this. Iran has the ability to export oil through the Caspian Sea to Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, etc.
So Iraq could sell its oil to Iran and then Iran resells it to the countries on the Caspian bypassing the Straits of Hormuz. I also recall there is more pipeline politics up there, a potential oil pipeline going from Khazakstan possibly through Iran then through Turkey for export to Europe.
So this potentially takes Iraq's oil out of western hands and diverts it to Russian or Chinese control. Much of the sabre rattling against Iran is supposed to prevent this happening.
China is buying up big in these areas and is constructing a pipeline for oil itself. Russia wants to control the oil because of its own resources, and to control the export of oil through Turkey.
So this is a huge issue for the US, potentially losing control of Iraqi oil to Russia and the Chinese.
This post is a bit vague, it's based on a book I read on the subject about the new great game in this area. Anyone interested might have to do some more research to get the exact facts, but this is roughly correct.
I apologize for giving an incorrect url. It is http://www.iraqoilreport.com, which is run by Ben Lando.
So, he is linking to a UPI report on the oil pipeline, which will ship crude from Iraq to Iran to be refined, whatever the status of their refineries. And, groundbreaking has happened. This pipeline will be a short one, across the river from Basra in the south.
As for the latter part, this is a report based on Lando interviewing the Iraqi oil minister, Ali Shahristani, who made this statement about the future planned pipeline to ship refined products back to Iraq. I do not know the current status of refineries in Iraq, but would not be surprised if that in Iran is better than that in Iraq, which would be the relevant issue, I believe.
Barkley
Barkley I clicked through to the UPI piece and it doesn't mention any reimportation of refined product. So that would have to be a product of original reporting by Lando. The UPI article suggests as some of the commenters above do that this is all about finding a new outlet for exports of Iraqi oil.
Yes, I thought I said that. Lando claims to have spoken with Ali Shahristani, the Iraqi oil minister, and got it from him. Lando is about as well informed as anybody on what is going on over there, an excellent person to be running a blog entitled, "Iraqoilreport," which it is. I have praised it before here on this blog.
Barkley
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