File: 070296_cia_70076_70076_01.txt
Page: 01
Total Pages: 1
Subject: DAMAGE ASSESSMENT - KUWAIT OIL Not Finally Evaluated Intelligence TO FACILITATE ELECTRONIC ACCESS, THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REFORMATTED TO ELIMINATE INFORMATION THAT DOES NOT PERTAIN TO GULF WAR ILLNESS ISSUES OR THAT IS CLASSIFIED. A COPY OF THIS REDACTED DOCUMENT, IN ORIGINAL FORMAT, IS AVAILABLE ON REQUEST. KUWAIT'S OIL SYSTEM: A PRELIMINARY DAMAGE ASSESSMENT KUWAIT'S OIL SYSTEM: A PRELIMINARY DAMAGE ASSESSMENT KUWAIT'S OIL SYSTEM: A PRELIMINARY DAMAGE ASSESSMENT KEY JUDGMENTS INFORMATION AVAILABLE AS OF APRIL 1991 WAS USED IN THIS REPORT. KUWAIT'S OIL SYSTEM-A PRIMARY TARGET OF IRAQI SABOTAGE-SUFFERED EXTEN- SIVE DAMAGE DURING THE GULF WAR. IN THE PRODUCTION, PROCESSING, AND EXPORT CHAIN, THE DAMAGE WAS MOST SEVERE TO PRODUCTION FACILITIES, ALTHOUGH MANY OTHER KEY FACILITIES FURTHER DOWNSTREAM WERE LEFT RELATIVELY INTACT THE OIL WELLS SUFFERED THE MOST SERIOUS DAMAGE. IRAQ DESTROYED OR DAMAGED OVER 80 PERCENT OF KUWAIT'S 950 OPERATING OIL WELLS. THESE WELLS ARE BURNING; ANOTHER WELLS ARE STILL SPEWING OUT OIL AND CREATING. LARGE POOLS OF OIL. MOST OF THE GATHERING CENTERS-KEY CRUDE OIL PROCESSING FACILITIES CALLED GAS-OIL SEPARATION PLANTS (GOSPS) IN SOME COUNTRIES-SUFFERED EXTENSIVE DAMAGE THE MANIFOLDS CONTROLLING THE FLOW OF OIL FROM THE STORAGE TANKS TO THE EXPORT TERMINALS WERE HEAVILY DAMAGED WHEN COALITION FORCES BOMBED THE FACILITIES TO STOP THE FLOW OF OIL INTO THE GULF. DAMAGE TO THE REFINERIES AND THE PETROCHEMICAL PLANTS WAS LIGHT, BUT THE IRAQIS HAVE RENDERED THEM INOPERABLE FOR SEVERAL MONTHS BY PLUNDERING OR DESTROYING MOST COMPUTERS AND PROCESS CONTROL EQUIPMENT. KUWAIT'S OIL SYSTEM: A PRELIMINARY DAMAGE ASSESSMENT INTRODUCTION IRAQ'S DESTRUCTION AND PLUNDER OF KUWAIT'S OIL INDUS- TRY HAS DEVASTATED KUWAIT'S ECONOMY AND CREATED A MAJOR REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER. KUWAIT'S OIL OUTPUT HAS BEEN COMPLETELY HALTED BY THE DESTRUCTION OF HUNDREDS OF OIL WELLS AND DAMAGE TO KEY SURFACE FACILITIES, AND HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS' WORTH OF OILFIELD AND REFINING EQUIPMENT AND STOCKS HAVE BEEN STOLEN. THE WELL FIRES-WHICH BURN UP 4-6 MILLION B/D OF CRUDE OIL-HAVE CREATED A MASSIVE SMOKE PLUME THAT IS SEVERELY DEGRADING THE AIR QUALITY OVER LARGE AREAS OF THE PERSIAN GULF REGION.1 TO HALT THE POLLUTION AND RESTORE OIL EXPORTS, THE KUWAITIS MUST UNDERTAKE A REBUILDING PROGRAM THAT WILL TAKE SEVERAL YEARS AND COST BILLIONS OF DOLLARS. 1 THE DAMAGE AND DESTRUCTION OF NUMEROUS WELLHEADS IS RESULTING IN THE UNCONTROLLED FLOW OF OIL. AS A RESULT, THE WELLS ARE BURNING AND SPEWING 4-6 MILLION B/D, WHICH EXCEEDS KUWAIT'S PREWAR CRUDE OIL PRODUCTION LEVEL OF 2 MILLION B/D. ASSESSING THE DAMAGE EVERY SEGMENT OF KUWAIT'S OIL INDUSTRY SUFFERED AT LEAST SOME DAMAGE AT THE HANDS OF THE IRAQIS. THE OIL WELLS WERE SYSTEMATICALLY AND COMPREHEN- SIVELY SABOTAGED. THE GATHERING CENTERS WERE SUBSTANTIALLY DAMAGED. THE PIPELINE NETWORK SURVIVED LARGELY INTACT, AND THE CRUDE OIL TANK FARMS SUFFERED ONLY PARTIAL DAMAGE. THE REFINERIES SUSTAINED DAMAGE TO KEY PROCESSING EQUIPMENT, BUT ESSENTIAL COMPUTERS AND CONTROLS WERE LOOTED OR SMASHED. SEA ISLAND FACILITY, WHICH WAS DAMAGED. OIL WELLS: SYSTEMATIC DESTRUCTION THE IRAQIS CARRIED OUT THEIR THREAT OF A SCORCHED-EARTH POLICY BY SYSTEMATICALLY DAMAGING OR DESTROYING KUWAIT'S OIL WELLS-THE HEART OF ANY OIL PRODUCTION SYSTEM.4 INDEED, IRAQ WENT TO GREAT LENGTHS TO ENSURE THAT THE SABOTAGE WAS SUCCESSFUL. ACCORDING TO BAGHDAD ISSUED DE- TAILED INSTRUCTIONS TO OILFIELD ENGINEERS DISPATCHED TO KUWAIT DURING THE OCCUPATION ON HOW TO PLACE EXPLO- SIVES ON THE WELLHEAD AND HOW TO HOOK UP THE DETONATION CORD SO THAT A GROUP OF WELLS WOULD SIMULTANEOUSLY EXPLODE. THE INDICATE THAT THE IRAQIS EXPERIMENTED MONTHS BEFOREHAND BY BLOW- ING UP OIL WELL MOCKUPS IN IRAQ. THE OCCUPATION TROOPS WERE INSTRUCTED TO MONITOR THE STATUS OF THE WELLHEAD EXPLOSIVES AND THE DETONATION CORD TO ENSURE THAT THE SABOTAGE WOULD BE SUCCESSFUL. THE SABOTAGE RESULTED IN FIRES, BLOWOUTS, WELLHEAD DAMAGE, AND POSSIBLE PERMANENT LOSS OF RESERVOIR PRODUCTIVITY. APPROXIMATELY 500 WELLS ARE STILL ON FIRE-SOME 200 OF THE WELL FIRES HAVE SMALL FLAMES AND SOME ON THE EDGES OF THE MAIN FIELDS ARE BEGINNING TO EMIT WHITE SMOKE, INDICATING THAT THEY ARE PRODUCING LARGE AMOUNTS OF WATER. THE REMAINING 300 OR SO FIRES, HOWEVER, ARE GENERATING MASSIVE FLAMES, THICK BLACK SMOKE, AND INTENSE HEAT. AN ADDITIONAL 40 OR SO WELLS ARE "BLOW- ING OUT"-NOT ON FIRE BUT SPEWING OIL. A PRELIMINARY INSPECTION BY REPRESENTATIVES OF THE FIREFIGHTING COMPANIES OF ABOUT 25 PERCENT OF THE OILFIELDS HAS REVEALED THAT: AT LEAST 365 OIL WELLS IN THE GREATER AL BURQAN FIELD ARE BURNING, AS ARE POOLS OF OIL AROUND SOME WELL- HEADS. ASSESSMENT TEAMS HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO EVALUATE THE SOUTHERN PART OF THIS FIELD, WHERE THE MAJORITY OF THE FIRES ARE LOCATED, BECAUSE THE AREA IS FILLED WITH MINES AND UNEXPLODED ORDNANCE. SEVERAL WELLS IN THE AL MAQWA' OILFIELD TOGETHER ARE SPEWING APPROXIMATELY 80,000 B/D OF OIL, CREATING VAST LAKES THAT HAVE RENDERED PORTIONS OF THE FIELD INACCESSIBLE BY LAND. FIREFIGHTERS ARE ATTEMPTING TO IGNITE THESE WELLS TO STOP THE FLOW BUT IN MOST CASES HAVE BEEN UNSUCCESSFUL. THE OIL IS COLLECTING IN LOW- LYING AREAS AND IS LIKELY TO BEGIN FLOWING DOWN SEVERAL DRY CREEK BEDS TO THE GULF. SEVERAL WELLS IN THE WESTERN AL MANAQISH FIELD, BLOWN BUT NOT ON FIRE, ARE PRODUCING HIGH LEVELS OF DEADLY HYDROGEN SULFIDE GAS. OVER HALF THE WELLS IN THE NORTHERN FIELDS OF AT RAWDATAYN AND AS SABIRIYAH ARE ON FIRE. THESE FIELDS PRODUCED ROUGHLY 20 PERCENT OF KUWAIT'S TOTAL OUTPUT BEFORE THE INVASION. ANOTHER 200 OR SO WELLS ARE PROBABLY DAMAGED OR DESTROYED THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY BUT ARE NOT ON FIRE OR BLOWING OUT BECAUSE THEY WERE IDLE OR HAD LOW RESERVOIR PRESSURE NOT ALL OIL WELLS WERE SUCCESSFULLY SABOTAGED. ACCORD- ING TO THE FIRE INSPECTION TEAM, AT LEAST THREE HIGH- PRESSURE WELLS IN THE SMALL DHARIF OILFIELD WERE APPAR- ENTLY OVERLOOKED BY THE IRAQIS AND ARE INTACT. THESE WELLS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING ABOUT 10,000 B/D EACH. IN ADDITION, 100 OR MORE LOWER PRESSURE OIL WELLS ARE UNDAMAGED, IN MANY OF THESE CASES, THE EXPLOSIVES ARE STILL ATTACHED TO THE WELLHEAD. A KEY GAS WELL-ONLY A FEW EXIST WITHIN THE COUNTRY IS ALSO INTACT, GATHERING CENTERS: MODERATE DAMAGE DAMAGE TO GATHERING CENTERS WAS EXTENSIVE, BUT RANDOM AND INCOMPLETE. APPARENTLY, THE IRAQIS DID NOT BOTHER TO SABOTAGE THEM COMPREHENSIVELY GATHERING CENTERS IN NORTHERN KUWAIT HAVE SUSTAINED SOME DAMAGE GATHERING CENTERS IN THE AS SABIRIYAH AND AT RAWDATAYN FIELDS HAD SUFFERED DAMAGE, WHILE THE SMALL RATQA FACILITY WAS DESTROYED. THE GATHERING CENTERS IN THE WESTERN OILFIELDS WERE DAMAGED EXTENSIVELY. IN MANY OF THE GATHERING CENTERS, THE MAIN DAMAGE TO THE CRUDE OIL STORAGE TANKS AND TO MANIFOLDS AND FLOW LINES FROM THE OIL WELLS, KUWAIT'S TWO CRITICAL CRUDE OIL STORAGE FACILITIES-THE NORTH AND SOUTH TANK FARMS, WITH A COMBINED CAPACITY OF ABOUT 15 MILLION BARREL-SUFFERED MODER- ATE DAMAGE. EXPORT FACILITIES: MOST IN GOOD SHAPE KUWAIT'S MARINE TERMINALS SUFFERED VARYING DEGREES OF DAMAGE. THE MINA' AL AHMADI SEA ISLAND TERMINAL-WHICH COULD EXPORT 2 MILLION B/D OF CRUDE OIL AND HANDLE THE LARGEST SUPERTANKERS-WAS EXTENSIVELY DAMAGED BY FIRE WHEN THE US NAVY FIRED ON IRAQI NAVAL FORCES NEAR THE PLATFORM IN LATE JANUARY, MINA'AL AHMADI REFINERY SUFFERED SOME FIRE DAMAGE STORAGE TANKS AND A GROUP OF PIPELINES WERE ALSO DAMAGED. ASH SHU'AYBAH REFINERY SUFFERED DAMAGE STORAGE TANKS WERE DESTROYED AND DAMAGED. MINA' ABD ALLAH REFINERY SUFFERED STORAGE TANKS WERE ALSO DAMAGED. OIL PRODUCTION OUTLOOK KUWAIT'S MOST DAUNTING RECONSTRUCTION TASK WILL BE EXTINGUISHING THE OIL WELL FIRES AND RESTORING THE WELLS TO THEIR FORMER PRODUCTIVITY. GIVEN THE LARGE NUMBER OF WELL FIRES RELATIVE TO THE CAPABILITIES OF THE GLOBAL PETROLEUM INDUSTRY TO CONTROL THEM, THIS CHALLENGE MAY WELL BE THE GREATEST ANY OIL-PRODUCING COUNTRY HAS EVER FACED. BECAUSE THE IRAQIS WERE MORE HAPHAZ- ARD IN THEIR EFFORTS TO DESTROY THE REST OF KUWAIT'S OIL INFRASTRUCTURE, REPAIRING DOWNSTREAM FACILITIES WILL NOT BE AS SEVERE A PROBLEM. 1.5(C) 70076:70076
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