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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