Iraq
Post-World War II Through the 1970s
With the end of World War II, IPC and its affiliates undertook repair and development of facilities in Iraq as rapidly as financing and materials became available. Exploration and drilling were pressed, particularly in the Basra and the Mosul areas, to meet concession terms. Although considered a priority, the elimination of transport constraints was set back when a larger second, nearly completed pipeline to Haifa was abandoned in 1948 as a result of the first Arab-Israeli war. Use of the existing Haifa line was also discontinued. In 1951, however, commercial exports by the BPC of good quality crude began via a new pipeline to Al Faw, on the Persian Gulf. Exports were boosted further with the completion in 1952 of a thirty-inch pipeline linking the Kirkuk fields to the Syrian port of Baniyas, which had a throughput capacity of 13 million tons per year. In that year, production from Basra and Mosul approached 2.5 million tons while the Kirkuk fields increased production to more than 15 million tons. In the space of a year (1951-52), total Iraqi oil production had doubled to almost 20 million tons.
Iraqi officials still harbored ambitions, dating back to the 1920 San Remo Conference, to take control of their nation's oil resources. The elimination of transportation bottlenecks and the subsequent rapid growth of exports encouraged Iraqi assertiveness. IPC's costly, irretrievable investments in Iraq's oil infrastructure gave the government even greater leverage.
One particularly sore point among the Iraqis concerned IPC's contractual obligation to meet Iraq's domestic requirements for gasoline and other petroleum products. An IPC subsidiary operated a small refinery and distributi...
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...or and to be responsible for oil refining, gas processing, and internal marketing of gas products through several subsidiary organizations. INOC would be responsible for the production, transport, and sale of crude oil and gas. Some of its operations were contracted out to foreign service companies. The State Organization for Northern Oil (SONO), subordinate to INOC, replaced ICOO as the operating company in the northern fields. In subsequent reorganizations, SONO was renamed the Northern Petroleum Organization (NPO), and a Central Petroleum Organization (CPO), as well as a Southern Petroleum Organization (SPO) were also established. The State Organization of Oil Projects (SOOP) took over responsibility for infrastructure from INOC, and the State Organization for Marketing Oil (SOMO) assumed responsibility for oil sales, leaving INOC free to oversee oil production.
would have the capacity to transport 525,000 barrels of oil per day. The project would
but instead Iraq had been preparing for this for years, they knew what they were doing and were heavily equipped with weapons. Iraq and Saddam Hussein were trying to take over Kuwait, which was a major oil supplier to the world. If Iraq got Kuwait than Saudi Arabia would be right next to them. So then Iraq would pose an Immediate threat to take over Saudi Arabia, which was also a major oil supplier.
One of these factors was the logistical nightmare of redeveloping the infrastructure needed to transport oil to the refinery. As early as 1881, Standard oil operated approximately 3,000 miles of pipelines, eventually owning ninety percent of the nation’s pipelines. Although transcontinental railroads were an available alternative, pipelines were cheaper, reduced handling and storage fees, and were more efficient. The fact that modern oil companies invest hundreds of millions of dollars into speculating for sustainable natural oil deposits implies that such deposits are rare and hard to identify with a passing glance. If the spurts of oil proved to be isolated incidents, the capital invested in building pipelines and reestablishing a monopoly would have been squandered.
In 1958 Alberta gas finally reached Toronto and imports of Texas gas ended. Canada 's population was booming during the 1950s, and energy scarcities were becoming challenging. Canadian company TransCanada Pipelines Ltd. was incorporated in 1951 to undertake the creation of a natural gas pipeline across Canada. The financing of the project was split 50-50 between American and Canadian interests. This was a substantial operation in Canada because extra work was temporarily available to be able to create the pipeline. Canada has now become a self-sufficient country and stopped relying so much on other countries for oil. This was the activation of not only the Alberta oil industry booming and thriving, but also a nation as a
Pratt, Joseph A. “Exxon and the Control of Oil.” Journal of American History. 99.1 (2012): 145-154. Academic search elite. Web. 26. Jan. 2014.
Worldwide, there are many factors contributing to the increase in cost per barrel. Most recently, Libyan rebels, inspired by the success of their Tunisian and Egyptian neighbors, are up...
"United States Oil - Exports - Economy." Index Mundi - Country Facts. Web. 26 May 2011. .
What is the AMERICAN DREAM? I concluded the matter of dreaming about life’s basics wants that are exclusive to North America. The American Dream is the following: Go to college, get a good job, and finally get your own family. If we think about it, the American Dream is indeed a UNIVERSAL DREAM. The concept of the American Dream is created by this value system. The American Dream is intended to be a way of life attainable to all Americans. Whatever maybe the case, the act of trying to escape reality and the result such an act brings, is evident throughout the three novels Jews without money, by Michael Gold, Street Corner Society by William Whyte, and Passing, by Nella Larsen. All three of these books confront the myth of the American Dream. The American Dream can either be a reality or a nightmare depending upon the cultural prejudices and availability of freedom. Individuals who are united through some common bond, which may be religion social status of color, create a group or class of people. While individuals are subject to racial prejudices, which often makes up upward mobility not possible. Without equal opportunities to move upwards within society, the American Dream is not attainable. But it is possible in cases where people are willing to sacrifice their heritage culture etc. Nella Larsen, show us through this novel, that if people want, they can achieve the American Dream, but they would have to ‘pay a price for it.’ This is especially true of Clare Kendry. Her passing is motivated by her desire to improve the conditions of her socioeconomic life. She is successful in achieving her American Dream, but in the end she does face the consequences of her actions. She manages to rise from being a poor girl to settling down in a well household. Using her white skin color and blond hair as commodities, she escapes the reality of her true character. She gained wealth and respect in the community through marrying an affluent successful white man. But the truth is that she paid the price of ‘passing’ because she couldn’t express who she was and her true identity in the fear of being ‘caught’ and then left aside abandoned from the ‘whites’ and the ‘black’ communities. In her case, her decision to ‘pass’ was self-initiated. Clare was afraid to face everyone, especially her husband, with her blackness.
Aside from causing a major shift in geopolitical power, WWII also solidified the integral role oil played politically in national security. However, following the war the United States was no longer the world’s largest oil producer and was unable to maintain self-sufficiency as it had in the past. As a national security imperative oil was more important at this point than ever before. America’s war machine needed to be well oiled in case the new Cold War suddenly turned hot.
At the end of World War I, the British Empire took control of the land, and imposed a monarchy on the region. However, in 1932 the British mandate came to an end, and the Iraqi people came in control of their newly independent country. Led by a series of kings, the country remained sufficiently stable and thrived off of discovered oil in the country. However, due to increased political oppression, a group known as “Free Officers” overthrew the monarchy and instituted a republic government on the land. (Iraq Foreign Policy, Brittanica, 2010)
The industry is divided into three distinct sectors including the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors. The upstream sector includes the exploration and production of crude oil as well as the exploration and production of natural gas. This sector has experienced the largest amount of deals in terms of mergers and acquisitions, which will be further discuss in section III. The midstream sector involves the transportation of extracted petroleum from the upstream sector through pipelines, rail, barge, truck as well as storage. Finally, the downstream sector connects the end consumers through derived products such as gasoline, liquefied natural gas (LPG), liquefied natural gas (LNG), kerosene (aircrafts), and diesel…
In conclusion, OPEC's monopoly of the petroleum industry has been a strong one since the 1960's since its members enjoy economies of scale. Its decisions concerning the output of petrol have always been strong affecting the rest of the world. This monopoly is socially inefficient due to the output and the deadweight loss that results. Interestingly enough, to break this monopoly, the new Iraq has the potential to turn the market power around.
This war-torn land shows nothing but death and the dying. The ground is muddy from the rain, it’s dank and sodden. Up above the trench line is barbed wire and … nothing else. No birds, no animals … no people. A few dead bodies of the brave men going to assassinate the enemy by night fall, but stopped dead in their tracks, they got picked off by the sharpshooters. No! No one ever makes it! Never! There is a constant sound of gun blasts and the sound of explosions from the grenades. The dark is lit up by the flashes of the guns against the silver clouded sky. Nobody dares to look up for more than a few seconds otherwise they will be taken out.
Initially and primarily the US’s influence in the Middle East was to prevent a hostile power from gaining control over a vital resource. With the outbreak of the 1973 Arab-Israeli conflict, the perception of oil as a strategic commodity surfaced. The Arab states cut off all petroleum deliveries to the United States and forming cutbacks to other countries. At the same time, the Organization of Petroleum-Exporting Countries (OPEC) announced a rapid increase in the pr...
In 1968, Americans were continuing to migrate to the west coast and the pipeline industry followed. The increase of import refineries on the Gulf Coast also led to the construction of pipelines that would stretch across the eastern seaboard. 1968 also saw the discovery of large quantities of oil in Alaska. In response, a massive pipeline system was constructed in the span of seven years to transport oil to the contiguous United States.