Stories from GWOT: Iraqi Oil Platform Defense

Or my life as an underpaid ExxonMobil employee.

Long forgotten down the memory hole is that one of the promises of the Iraq War was the idea that oil revenues from the country were going to fund the massive expenses undertaken by America to invade and occupy the nation.

This article notes the many assurances that Iraqi oil would fund most if not all of the wars cost.

Sure Don. 🙄

Said with a straight face at the time, I bet.

Tell us again, exactly, when is that happening?

But this isn't an article about the empty promises of that. Let me explain my experience as an underpaid ExxonMobil employee.

Fear and Loathing in the North Arabian Gulf

After the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq, one of the major goals was to get Iraqi oil flowing onto the global markets again. Defense and security of this industry was relegated to US-led coalition forces.

Here is an excerpt from NPR describing the mission:

The most important cog in Iraq's economy is a rusted hulk in the Persian Gulf, 30 miles off of Iraq's coast.

The bulk of Iraq's crude oil flows through the aging Al-Basrah Oil Terminal, where oil pumps run around the clock, 365 days a year filling giant oil tankers.

American and British forces protect the terminal. Troops are stationed on the offshore facility as Coast Guard and naval vessels patrol the area.

"This is a strategic place, and it needs to be protected. And that's why we're here, and that's why we're going to stay here, until the Iraqis can protect it themselves," says British Capt. Keith Blount, commander of the oil terminal's defense forces.

…U.S. Navy Cmdr. Richard Balzano, who is stationed at the facility, says most of the damage occurred during the Iran-Iraq War, which lasted from 1980 to 1988.

Improvements Since U.S.-Led War

Since the start of the war in Iraq in 2003, Balzano and his men have tried to repair the terminal, and to make other improvements, including rest rooms.

Previously, Iraqi guards used to go wherever they stood on the platform. And at what seems like great risk, many of the Iraq employees continue to smoke cigarettes as they work.{Bold added for emphasis}

The Americans also have installed power generators, and there are some new switching mechanisms, to ensure that sparks do not trigger explosions.

There are still plenty of problems, though. The facility does not operate at full capacity because several of the giant pipelines that service the terminal from the shore are dangerously corroded.

"You've got an economy underpinned by the oil industry," Bount says. "And this is the biggest outlet for that industry."

Unless you are standing on top of a highly flammable oil platform. 🤔

So, not only were we patrolling in hostile waters around aging infrastructure, there was also the added chance of the whole thing going up in flames due to an errant flicked cigarette. Good times. Finding out that the going pay rate was around $1000/day for the civilian private military contractors defending the oil rigs was a small consolation knowing they’d be blown up first if it all went up in a Hiroshima ball of fire.

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The mission itself was fairly straightforward: continual patrol around the offshore oil rigs to discourage and deter threats in the defined security perimeter to maintain the transfers of oil to Al Basrah Oil Terminal (ABOT) and Khor al-Amaya Oil Terminal (KAAOT).

Simple, right?

This was easier said than done because the local fishermen had become accustomed to unfettered access to the waters around the oil platforms prior to the Iraq war and were more than a bit irritated to lose their freedom to these areas. As anyone who has gone deep sea fishing knows, fish love gathering around oil platforms as they act as artificial reefs. This took up most of our time chasing off the fishermen who could not take the hint as to why a United States warship continually blocked the waters around the platforms.

A typical Dhow fishing vessel.

This soon became a sort of game we nicknamed “Corral the Dhows.”

When a Dhow was spotted advancing towards one of the oil rigs, the first method of deterrence was to simply maneuver in between them and the rig-all the while blasting the ships horn in long enough intervals to drive one more insane than they already were. This proved mostly ineffective so many times that it was mutually agreed by the crew that the fishermen had lost most of their hearing in previous conflicts in the region.

The next step in deterrence was (admittedly) very fun to watch. A helicopter would be launched (or directed if already airborne) to intercept the Dhow. Seeing the hapless fishing boat get engulfed by rotor wash from the helicopter directly above it looked kind of fun. The fisherman did not seem to think so. One could almost faintly hear the curses yelled by them as they were drenched. The final step if all these measures did not get the message through that they should avert course was to send out the Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure (VBSS) team in the rib boats to make a polite trip out to the errant Dhow to explain things more clearly. The VBSS team consisted of an armed security force and interpreter.

This aspect of the mission was the easy part, surprisingly enough. The moments one questioned the life choices that led up to this were usually in the early morning. That area of the Arabian Gulf was susceptible to dense fog and it wasn’t uncommon to step out to the smoking area after breakfast and see a Dhow emerge from the fog right next to our ship. This would be followed by the general alarm being sounded and the VBSS team investigating the vessel. While thankfully, the fishermen only wanted food, water or some fuel during these unexpected encounters, it was a constant reminder of the uncertainties of the situation.

This topic and the experiences cover a lot of ground, but I am trying to keep these stories under a thousand words for brevity and ease of reading. Feel free to ask questions in the comments or DM me if you would like to know more.

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Links:

“Who said the war would pay for itself? They did!”

https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/who-said-war-would-pay-itself-they-did/

“Aging Oil Terminal Vital to Iraq’s Economy”

https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105670955

“U.S. Sailors, Coast Guard Protect Iraq’s Economy”

https://web.archive.org/web/20120414083508/http://www.defense.gov//News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=55782

“Fish Love Skyscraper-style Living Under Oil Platforms”

https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn26375-fish-love-skyscraper-style-living-under-oil-platforms/