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)



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