Posted on 06/19/2004 10:32:48 PM PDT by hedgetrimmer
SINGAPORE, (AFP) - Singapore has welcomed an Indonesian proposal for joint patrols to protect the pirate-infested Malacca Strait, which is regarded as a vulnerable target for maritime terrorist attacks. While emphasising Singapore had also been heavily pushing for joint co-operation, Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean said Indonesian navy chief Bernard Kent Sondakh's comments last week were a positive development.
"We welcome the proposal from the Indonesian navy chief for greater maritime cooperation for the security of the Malacca and Singapore Straits, among the three littoral states," Teo told reporters.
Sondakh said on Thursday his country had suggested a joint task force involving Indonesian, Singaporean and Malaysian forces to guard the strait.
"All this time we have had good cooperation with Malaysia and Singapore. If the task force is established, automatically security in the Malacca Straits will be strengthened," Sondakh said.
The narrow, 960-kilometre (600 mile) waterway, through which about half the world's oil supplies and a third of global trade passes, runs along the coasts of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
(Excerpt) Read more at story.news.yahoo.com ...
Peak Oil Production, necessary conservation, and alternative necessary energy production sources
Various
Posted on 06/18/2004 5:28:15 PM PDT by combat_boots
Please start reading up on oil field reserve production and projections and something called Peak Oil production. We must get ahead of this curve on energy conservation and various alternatives. Failure to do so will be at our peril. We do already know this. I am an ANWAR conservation person, and love all things Alaska. I don't know an easy way around this one, and do not necessarily support drilling there. I do not have any systemic answers to this, but think better researchers than I can help move the discussion and the solutions forward, before this is done FOR us.
Also, please read up on the strategic choke points: the Straits of Molacca (http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/choke.html or http://www.geocities.com/uksteve.geo/canal6.html), the Suez, and the Straits of Hormuz.
See: http://rclsgi.eng.ohio-state.edu/~korpela/oil.html, http://www.mnforsustain.org/duncan_and_youngquist_encircling_oil.htm
This can't be. Established nations with significant Islamic populations can't be warring against terrorism. That would only happen when a Democrat was in office, practicing their own special form of multipolarity. [/sarcasm]
I didn't want to think about drilling on/offshore in America before Saudi Arabia flew into disarray. Now I'm wondering if we're just being too reticent about drilling in ANWAR. Do you think we stand to lose the whole wilderness just because we drill in a few locations? I'd like to hear more as I know next to nothing about the matter.
| Location | Barrels per day |
| Bab el-Mandab | Location: Djibouti/Eritrea/Yemen; connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea Oil Flows (2000E): 3.2-3.3 million bbl/d Destination of Oil Exports: Europe, United States, Asia |
| Bosporus/Turkish Straits | Location: Turkey; this 17-mile long waterway divides Asia from Europe and connects the Black Sea with the Mediterranean Sea Oil Flows (2003E): 3.0 million bbl/d (nearly all southbound; mostly crude oil with several hundred thousand barrels per day of products as well) Destination of Oil Exports: Western and Southern Europe |
| Russian Oil and Gas Export Pipelines/Ports | Location: Russian oil and gas exports transit via pipelines that pass through Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Poland, Major Oil Export Ports: Novorossiisk (Russia -- Black Sea); Primorsk (Russia -- Baltic Sea/Gulf of Finland); Tuapse (Russia); Ventspils (Latvia); Odessa (Ukraine) Major Oil Pipelines (capacity, 2003E): Druzhba (1.2 million bbl/d); Baltic Pipeline System/Primorsk (840,000 bbl/d) Major Natural Gas Pipelines (capacity, 2003E): Brotherhood, Progress, and Union (1 trillion cubic feet -- tcf -- capacity each); Northern Lights (0.8 tcf); Volga/Urals-Vyborg, Finland (0.1 tcf). Yamal (to Europe, via Belarus; 1.0 Tcf, partly operational); Blue Stream (to Turkey via Black Sea; 0.56 Tcf, construction completed in October 2002) Destination of Oil and Gas Exports: Eastern Europe, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, France, other Western Europe. |
| Strait of Hormuz | Location: Oman/Iran; connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea Oil Flows (2003E): 15-15.5 million bbl/d Destination of Oil Exports: Japan, United States, Western Europe |
| Strait of Malacca | Location: Malaysia/Singapore; connects the Indian Ocean with the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Oil Flows (2003E): 11 million bbl/d Destination of Oil Exports: Japan, South Korea, China, other Pacific Rim countries |
| Suez Canal and Sumed Pipline | Location: Egypt; connects the Red Sea and Gulf of Suez with the Mediterranean Sea Oil Flows (2003E): 3.8 million bbl/d. Of this total, the Sumed Pipeline transported 2.5 million bbl/d of oil northbound (nearly all from Saudi Arabia) and the Suez Canal about 1.3 million bbl/d total. Destination of Sumed Oil Exports: Predominantly Europe; also United States. Concerns/Background: Closure of the Suez Canal and/or Sumed Pipeline would divert tankers around the southern tip of Africa (the Cape of Good Hope), adding greatly to transit time and effectively tying up tanker capacity. |
Except for the Russian oil pipelines and the Panama Canal, which has been excluded from this list, nearly all the oil chokepoints are in regions where groups like Al Qaeda can be expected to operate. But although the dependence on oil is global, the defense of these strategic corridors has not been internationalized. While the US does not use the oil shipped through the Straits of Malacca, it will naturally be the linchpin around which the Regional Maritime Security Initiative, which is expected to secure the Straits, is based. This is not to say that America alone bears the cost of defending the oil supply. STRATFOR's June 8, 2004 briefing (hat tip reader JM) estimates that consumers already paying for terror at the pump. "Stratfor sources associated with a number of oil firms and finance houses indicate that there is approximately an $8 "terror" premium factored into the price of each barrel of oil."
This premium is charged by oil companies to provide 'security' for their facilities. For example, "the Canadian oil company Nexen, which operates the ash-Shihr oil export terminal, agreed in January 2003 to provide assistance to the Yemeni government in improving security" after an attack on the French-flagged tanker Limburg in 2002. Those who would revile the Blackwater security contractors in Iraq as "mercenaries" trading "blood for oil" should consider how this is the least of its manifestations. Yet none of these private arrangements would be of much use without the cover provided by US naval and military forces. A major interdiction of the Straits of Hormuz, Malacca or the Suez Canal would beyond the capability of a private oil company, however large, to remedy.
There is a further price which goes beyond securing existing facilities. As STRATFOR pointed out, the real problem is adding new oil production in areas beset by terrorism threats. Unlike existing facilities which can be run by Saudis, new production or enhanced recovery from mature fields is critically dependent on expatriate expertise and new investment. And it is precisely those expatriates who are being attacked.
See Monday, June 14, 2004 Blood of some, Oil of many
http://belmontclub.blogspot.com/
| Location | Barrels per day |
| Bab el-Mandab | Location: Djibouti/Eritrea/Yemen; connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea Oil Flows (2000E): 3.2-3.3 million bbl/d Destination of Oil Exports: Europe, United States, Asia |
| Bosporus/Turkish Straits | Location: Turkey; this 17-mile long waterway divides Asia from Europe and connects the Black Sea with the Mediterranean Sea Oil Flows (2003E): 3.0 million bbl/d (nearly all southbound; mostly crude oil with several hundred thousand barrels per day of products as well) Destination of Oil Exports: Western and Southern Europe |
| Russian Oil and Gas Export Pipelines/Ports | Location: Russian oil and gas exports transit via pipelines that pass through Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Poland, Major Oil Export Ports: Novorossiisk (Russia -- Black Sea); Primorsk (Russia -- Baltic Sea/Gulf of Finland); Tuapse (Russia); Ventspils (Latvia); Odessa (Ukraine) Major Oil Pipelines (capacity, 2003E): Druzhba (1.2 million bbl/d); Baltic Pipeline System/Primorsk (840,000 bbl/d) Major Natural Gas Pipelines (capacity, 2003E): Brotherhood, Progress, and Union (1 trillion cubic feet -- tcf -- capacity each); Northern Lights (0.8 tcf); Volga/Urals-Vyborg, Finland (0.1 tcf). Yamal (to Europe, via Belarus; 1.0 Tcf, partly operational); Blue Stream (to Turkey via Black Sea; 0.56 Tcf, construction completed in October 2002) Destination of Oil and Gas Exports: Eastern Europe, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, France, other Western Europe. |
| Strait of Hormuz | Location: Oman/Iran; connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea Oil Flows (2003E): 15-15.5 million bbl/d Destination of Oil Exports: Japan, United States, Western Europe |
| Strait of Malacca | Location: Malaysia/Singapore; connects the Indian Ocean with the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Oil Flows (2003E): 11 million bbl/d Destination of Oil Exports: Japan, South Korea, China, other Pacific Rim countries |
| Suez Canal and Sumed Pipline | Location: Egypt; connects the Red Sea and Gulf of Suez with the Mediterranean Sea Oil Flows (2003E): 3.8 million bbl/d. Of this total, the Sumed Pipeline transported 2.5 million bbl/d of oil northbound (nearly all from Saudi Arabia) and the Suez Canal about 1.3 million bbl/d total. Destination of Sumed Oil Exports: Predominantly Europe; also United States. Concerns/Background: Closure of the Suez Canal and/or Sumed Pipeline would divert tankers around the southern tip of Africa (the Cape of Good Hope), adding greatly to transit time and effectively tying up tanker capacity. |
Except for the Russian oil pipelines and the Panama Canal, which has been excluded from this list, nearly all the oil chokepoints are in regions where groups like Al Qaeda can be expected to operate. But although the dependence on oil is global, the defense of these strategic corridors has not been internationalized. While the US does not use the oil shipped through the Straits of Malacca, it will naturally be the linchpin around which the Regional Maritime Security Initiative, which is expected to secure the Straits, is based. This is not to say that America alone bears the cost of defending the oil supply. STRATFOR's June 8, 2004 briefing (hat tip reader JM) estimates that consumers already paying for terror at the pump. "Stratfor sources associated with a number of oil firms and finance houses indicate that there is approximately an $8 "terror" premium factored into the price of each barrel of oil."
This premium is charged by oil companies to provide 'security' for their facilities. For example, "the Canadian oil company Nexen, which operates the ash-Shihr oil export terminal, agreed in January 2003 to provide assistance to the Yemeni government in improving security" after an attack on the French-flagged tanker Limburg in 2002. Those who would revile the Blackwater security contractors in Iraq as "mercenaries" trading "blood for oil" should consider how this is the least of its manifestations. Yet none of these private arrangements would be of much use without the cover provided by US naval and military forces. A major interdiction of the Straits of Hormuz, Malacca or the Suez Canal would beyond the capability of a private oil company, however large, to remedy.
There is a further price which goes beyond securing existing facilities. As STRATFOR pointed out, the real problem is adding new oil production in areas beset by terrorism threats. Unlike existing facilities which can be run by Saudis, new production or enhanced recovery from mature fields is critically dependent on expatriate expertise and new investment. And it is precisely those expatriates who are being attacked.
See Monday, June 14, 2004 Blood of some, Oil of many
http://belmontclub.blogspot.com/
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