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Rumaylah oil fields secured, preserved for Iraqi people

USMC News

Story Identification Number: 2003325131135
Story by Capt. Dan McSweeney

RUMAYLAH, Iraq (March 25, 2003) -- Elements of the I Marine Expeditionary Force secured the Southern Oil Producing Region of Iraq in one of the first objectives of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Days after the 5th Marines and 7th Marines moved through the area, encountering resistance from Iraqi forces and ultimately defeating them, a team of specialists traveled through the smoke-filled desert around Rumaylah in a mission to secure and assess burning oil facilities.

"We're here to assess the condition of the Gas Oil Separation Plants and other elements of the oil infrastructure. Right now, seven oil wells are on fire and two are significantly damaged," said Lt. Col. Bill Hatton, I MEF deputy engineer. "A number of these facilities are booby-trapped and some of the oil tanks are overflowing."

These facilities are important in the coalition's efforts to liberate Iraq because of their economic and environmental impacts. The Southern Oil Producing Region has a daily output of 1.6 million barrels, resources that the coalition is working to preserve for the Iraqi people.

"The first thing we do when we approach a facility is send in an Explosive Ordnance Disposal team to search for and neutralize any threats from mines or booby-traps in and around it," said Maj. Jorge Lizarralde, commander of Task Force Lizard, which is tasked with securing the oil facilities. "When a site is declared secure, we send in an assessment team, which will analyze the condition of the facility and shut it down.

In the case of burning oil wells, we secure a lane to the site and delegate the firefighting to either U.S. or Kuwaiti civilian contractors."

Due to Saddam Hussein's "scorched earth policy" during the Gulf War, coalition forces have been particularly concerned with the preservation of Iraq's oil infrastructure. In 1991, U.S. and allied ground forces encountered 700 oil wells set ablaze by retreating Iraqi forces. This caused concern for military planners in current operations and pushed Iraq's oil facilities to the top of the list of coalition priorities when actions in Iraq commenced.

"The fact that we only encountered seven burning wells is significant," said Lt. Cmdr. Vince Martinez, I MEF U.S. Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal liaison officer. "The indications are that the people who did this didn't have the time to set more fires. We found material at several oil wells that indicate they had attempted to detonate them, but failed due to improper procedures. Obviously, they had left the area in a hurry," he said.

Work on stabilizing the oil facilities is ongoing. All of the oil wells, GOSPs, pipelines, and other facilities must be inspected and secured.

"This is a perfect illustration of the difference between the Iraqi authorities and the coalition," said Hatton. "They attempted to destroy these facilities. We're successfully saving them to return them to the Iraqi people."