January 20 Pentagons has informed, that in case of war the Iraqi mode is ready to set fire on 1500 petroleum wells. According to representative of Pentagon who wished to be anonymous, the data, which came from Iraq, Saddam Hussein is ready, as in 1991 with Kuwait to realize the plan of bombardment of the chinks. Destruction of 1000 petroleum wells in the South and 500 - in the North undoubtedly will provoke ecological and economic disasters. In opinion of experts for their restoration will be required 2-3 years and large-scale financial investments.
The Iraqi army has already done this before. In 1991 it undermined 700 Kuwaiti chinks from 1000. The huge cloud of smoke hung for several weeks above this region, and 5 million barrels of petroleum were pored into Persian Gulf. For restoration of the Kuwaiti petroleum industry after operation "the Storm in the desert" was spent more than 20 billion dollars. Then, eleven years later, Saddam Hussein declared, that after the first American soldier steps on the territory of Iraq he will give the order for explosion of all oil wells.
And today his words can be realized. The question of the future control of oil wells, the possible profit from development of the Iraqi deposits officially is not discussed, it remains shadowed. The governments of USA and Great Britain approve that petroleum has no relation to confrontation with Iraq, but actually there are all suspicions to assume, that control above the Iraqi petroleum reserves, the second in the world after Saudi Arabia, is the main motivating factor of collision with Saddam Hussein.
Pentagon has emphasized, that all measures for prevention of sabotage on petroleum wells are undertaken. And this is done from the point of view of preservation of the basic resources of the country for Iraqis. Besides restoration of chinks and national economies according to calculations will cost 30-40 billion dollars. And the bright example of ecological accident and deterioration of health of the Kuwaiti inhabitants after incident of 1991 should be the indicative factor.
USA do not distributed details of the developed plan of counteraction. Responsible for performance of the plan have informed only that special divisions will provide safety of key objects. And President Bush has acted recently with the protest against application of the chemical, biological or nuclear weapon in case of war.
Destruction of oil wells will influence change of the prices on the world market as a whole. Now Iraq produces 2,8 million barrels. Explosion of chinks can be compensated by extraction of other countries, and actually reserves of the country become inaccessible for the long period and cannot influence the market. Except for it, Iraq will be deprived of the basic source of incomes, opportunities to pay the debts and develop economy.
According to Robert Ebel, the expert on petroleum from the Center of strategic and international research (CSIS), production in Iraq could grow by 2010 up to 4 million barrels per day in condition of sufficiency of investments and presence of oil wells.
Author: Nadezhda Paderina
