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Iraq oil workers await industry renewal

BABA CITY - Crude oil from the wells of northern Iraq was expected to help stabilise world oil prices, fund the reconstruction of the country and perhaps pay for some of the war efforts.

But widespread looting of the northern oil facilities has put any prospect of a quick recovery in doubt.

In the south of Iraq, war and sabotage have disabled oil production for months, at least. Experts estimate it will cost between $3 billion and $5 billion over two years just to restore Iraq's oil industry back to production levels it had before the 1991 Gulf War. President Bush has called for an end to UN sanctions on Iraqi oil.

To the north, in Kirkuk, alongside some of the world's best oil fields, geologists, engineers and other petroleum industry workers are ready to put the now-dormant oil fields back into production.

But the offices, facilities and homes have been so thoroughly ransacked by looters that employees don't see how they can get oil flowing again.

"We cannot get all the workers to come to work now because we have no place to put them," said Adil Qazas, a geologist. Before the war, one of the largest oil fields in Iraq, produced 600,000 barrels a day. Many experts say it could produce more.

"There are few fields in the world which can produce that much," said Abdul Wahab, a geologist who is considered the local expert on the region's history. "The Kirkuk field is one of the greatest, one of the giant fields of the world, not only of the Middle East."

When Baghdad's authority collapsed, Kurdish guerrilla fighters, called peshmerga, seized the processing plant and the fields, transferring power to American soldiers. Many of the company's top officials who were Baathist Party loyalists fled or disappeared as coalition forces took control of the area.

The US Army's 173rd Airborne Division now patrols the area and guards some of the facilities. But the administrative offices, supply depots and homes of Baba City were not protected.

Still, the engineers, scientists, cleaners, security guards and typists who ran Northern Oil's day-to-day operations remain. Many were expected to show up for work Saturday, when coalition forces and Kirkuk's new administration have called on residents to put the war behind and get back to work.

In the southern oil fields, engineers need to repair well heads damaged by retreating Iraqis and "shut in" non-producing oil wells to prevent ruptures and maintain pressure in the underground reservoirs. Plants that separate oil and gas are largely intact, and there has been limited damage to southern pipelines The main export terminal in southern Iraq - the Gulf port of Mina Al-Bakr - was captured in good condition early in the war.

Southern Iraq's Rumeila South oil field, which produced at least 500,000 barrels of crude a day before the war, was one of the first secured by US troops, but repair work there is just beginning.

A team from Houston-based Boots & Coots International Well Control has set up a base camp in the field to better inspect the well heads for damage. A Boots & Coots worker said it could take another week to get clearance to begin replacing the damaged well heads.

The rest of the field's oil infrastructure also requires a thorough inspection before production can begin. Underground flow-lines from the wells, oil gathering stations and larger transit pipes must all be examined for possible damage from shrapnel or sabotage. In addition, electricity must fully be restored in the area so submersible pumps can operate inside the wells. Foreign experts could eventually restart production at Rumeila South, but they hope to enlist the help of Iraqi workers who know it best.