Part 2, SOMALIA: More Corporate Plunder Disguised as Humanitarianism
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The Los Angeles Times January 18, 1993
THE OIL FACTOR IN SOMALIA
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Four American petroleum giants had agreements with the African
nation before its civil war began. They could reap big rewards
if peace is restored.
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By Mark Fineman
Times Staff Writer
(continuation)
Beydoun, who now works for Marathon Oil in London, cautioned in
a recent interview that on the basis of his findings alone, "you
cannot say there definitely is oil," but he added: "The different
ingredients for generation of oil are there. The question is
whether the oil generated there has been trapped or whether it
dispersed or evaporated."
Beginning in 1986, Conoco, along with Amoco, Chevron, Phillips
and, briefly, Shell all sought licenses for northern Somalia
from Siad Barre's government. Somalia was soon carved up into
concessional blocs, with Conoco, Amoco, and Chevron winning the
right to explore and exploit the most promising ones.
The companies' interest in Somalia clearly predated the World
Bank study. It was grounded in the findings of another, highly
successful exploration effort by the Texas-based Hunt oil Corp.
across the Gulf of Aden in the Arabian Peninsula nation of
Yemen, where geologists disclosed in the mid-1980s that the
estimated 1 billion barrels of Yemeni oil reserves were part
of a great underground rift, or valley, that arced into and
across northern Somalia.
Hunt's Yemeni operation, which is now yielding nearly 200,000
barrels of oil a day, and its implications for the entire region
were not lost on then-Vice President George Bush.
In fact, Bush witnessed it firsthand in April, 1986, when he
officially rededicated Hunt's new $18-million refinery near the
ancient Yemeni town of Marib. In remarks during the event, Bush
emphasized the critical value of supporting U.S. corporate efforts
to develop and safeguard potential oil reserves in the region.
In his speech, Bush stressed "the growing strategic importance
to the West of developing crude oil sources in the region away from
the Strait of Hormuz," according to a report three weeks later
in the authoritative Middle East Economic Survey.
Bush's reference was to the geological choke point that controls
access to the Persian Gulf and its vast oil reserves. It came at the
end of a 10-day Middle East tour in which the vice president drew
fire for appearing to advocate higher oil and gasoline prices.
"Throughout the course of his 17,000-mile trip, Bush suggested
continued low [oil] prices would jeopardize a domestic oil industry
'vital to the national security interests of the United States,'
which was interpreted at home and abroad as a sign the onetime oil
driller from Texas was coming to the aid of his associates," United
Press International reported from Washington the day after Bush
dedicated Hunt's Yemen refinery.
No such criticism accompanied Bush's decision late last year to send
more than 20,000 U.S. troops to Somalia, widely applauded as a bold
and costly step to save an estimated 2 million Somalis from starvation
by opening up relief supply lines and pacifying the famine-struck
nation.
But since the U.S. intervention began, neither the Bush Administration
nor any of the oil companies that had been active up until the civil
war broke out in early 1991 have commented publicly on Somalia's
potential for oil and natural gas production. Even in private, veteran
oil company exploration experts downplayed any possible connection
between the Administration's move into Somalia and the corporate
concessions at stake.
"In the oil world, Somalia is a fringe exploration area," said one
Conoco executive who asked not be be named. "They've overexagerrated
it," he said of the geologists' optimism about the potential oil
reserves there. And as for Washington's motives in Somalia, he
brushed aside criticisms that have been voiced quietly in Mogadishu,
saying, "With America, there is a genuine humanitarian streak in
us...that many other countries and cultures cannot understand."
But the same source added that Conoco's decision to maintain its
headquarters in the Somali capital even after it pulled out the last
of its major equipment in the spring of 1992 was certainly not a
humanitarian one. And he confirmed that the company, which has
explored Somalia in three major phases beginning in 1952, had
achieved "very good oil shows"--industry terminology for an
exploration phase that often precedes a major discovery--just before
the war broke out.
"We had these very good shows," he said. "We were pleased. That's
why Conoco stayed on....The people in Houston are convinced there's
oil there."
Indeed the same Conoco World article that praised Conoco's general
manager in Somalia for his role in the humanitarian effort, quoted
Marchand as saying, "We stayed because of Somalia's potential for the
company and to protect our assets."
Marchand, a French citizen who came to Somalia from Chad after a
civil war forced Conoco to suspend operations there, explained the role
played by his firm in helping set up the U.S.-led pacification mission
in Mogadishu.
"When the U.S. State Department asked Conoco management for assistance,
I was glad to use the company's influence in Somalia for the success of
this mission," he said in the magazine article. "I just treated it like
a company operation--like moving a rig. I did it for this operation
because the [U.S.] officials weren't familiar with the environment."
Marchand and his company were clearly familiar with the anarchy into
which Somalia has descended over the past two years--a nation with
no functioning government, no utilities and few roads, a place ruled
loosely by regional warlords.
Of the four U.S. companies holding the Siad Barre-era oil concessions,
Conoco is believed to be the only one that negotiated what spokesman
Geybauer called "a standstill agreement" with an interim government
set up by one of Mogadishu's two principal warlords, Ali Mahdi
Mohamed. Industry sources said the other U.S. companies with contracts
in Somalia cited "force majeure" (superior power), a legal term
asserting that they were forced by the war to abandon their exploration
efforts and would return as soon as peace was restored.
"It's going to be very interesting to see whether those agreements
are still good,"said Mohamed Jirdeh, a prominent Somali businessman
in Mogadishu who is familiar with the oil-concession agreements.
"Whatever Siad did, all those records and contracts, all disappeared
after he fled....And this period has brought with it a deep change
of our society."
"Our country is now very weak, and, of course, the American oil
companies are very strong. This has to be handled very diplomatically,
and I think the American government must move out of the oil business,
or at least make clear that there is a definite line separating the
two, if they want to maintain a long-term relationship here."
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END OF ARTICLE
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Transcribed by
[email protected]
(another article to follow)
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This is one of countless stories unveiling the subverted, corrupt
and fascistic state of our theoretically democratic Government.
This story makes it disgustingly obvious that true patriotism is not
the waving of flags, the tying of yellow ribbons and the mindless
supporting of our Government, just because it happens to be ours.
You don't support cancer just because you happen to have it.
True patriotism is telling the truth to the people of our country
in order that they may unite to conquer this anti-democratic cancer
that is gradually destroying ours and our children's freedom.
So please post the installments of this ongoing series to
computer bulletin boards, and post hardcopies in public places,
both on and off campus. That would be a truly patriotic deed.
John DiNardo
