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Raids on 'price fixing' petrol giants
4.24.02   Daniel Lewis Sydney Morning Herald

The explosions add a new layer of woes for Pemex. The company's massive Cantarell field in the Bay of Campeche is drying up so quickly that Baker predicts the production will decline 200,000 barrels a day over the next decade.
With the EPR threatening to continue its attacks, the future of Mexico's petroleum industry seems even more precarious.
“The oil industry is in big trouble in Mexico", said College of William & Mary Mexico scholar George Grayson. “Pemex has lots of old, old pipelines and old facilities that are anything but state of the art,” he said. “The EPR is a thorn in the side, but their problem is that reserves are plummeting. At the rate they're going, within 10 years Mexico will be an oil importer".

Soviet     references & Baltic PSSA Afghanistan Balochistan Iraq Kazakhstan Tajikistan Turkmenistan Uzbekistan re WTO contra SDI polar strategy muscle espionage cartel proposal K159 Marc Rich Russia fights to the end over a firm & a future Looser grip resisted by Moscow 6.18.02   Peter Baker Wash.Post Moscow   As the world watched, Pres. GWBush visited Kremlin last month to celebrate Russia's increasing desire to integrate with the West. Almost no one was watching later that same afternoon as dozens of burly security agents burst into a large Russian oil co. a few miles away in a power struggle climax that showed just how far removed from the West the country remains. The security men descended on the sleek, ultra-modern headquarters of Slavneft, state-owned energy giant, intending to help one presumptive president of the co. forcibly dislodge another presumptive president. After a 4 hour standoff, only thing that settled the matter, however temporarily, was a mysterious bomb threat that forced both sides to abandon the building. Battle for control of Slavneft has played out less like the orderly, professional market economy ompetition promised by President Vladimir Putin and more like the brass-knuckled fights of the 1990s, when Putin's predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, sold off much of the state's assets to well-connected oligarchs who schemed to outmaneuver one another. Putin's govt plans to auction off a nearly 20% stake in Slavneft later this year in the first major privatization of his tenure, but corporate fisticuffs have left the sale in doubt and once again raised questions for international investors. Dispute goes to heart of whether Russia will adopt Western-style methods of corporate governance in hopes of boosting foreign investment or will remain plagued by an unpredictable & often lawless business climate. "It's a situation from a Leo Tolstoy novel," said Slavneft vp Andrei Shtorkh. "Now Russia is trying to show that it's a full-fledged player in the world economy, and not just that, but in the club of superpowers. This can't help our credibility. Not a single moral businessman will invest in Russia when such absolutely absurd stories are possible." The economic power play, murky as so many are in Russia, has also revealed apparent divide within Putin's inner circle as various figures jockey for position. The 2 camps vying for control of Slavneft appear to have separate patrons. One side is the group known as the Family, officials & advisers influential during Yeltsin's tenure and maintain close ties to the Kremlin. The other is known as the Chekists or Petersburgers, consisting of Putin's friends from his St. Petersburg home and his days in the KGB & its successor. The 2 groups have coexisted uneasily throughout Putin's tenure, quietly seeking his favor or scuffling with one another through proxies. At stake is one of the most precious gems left in state hands, a co. that produced 13.6 million tons of oil last year, operates more than 800 service stations and has been valued at $3 billion by some estimates. Slavneft ranks among the top 10 energy companies in Russia, and most of the country's oil barons have been eyeing it eagerly. For much of Russia's transition from the Soviet command economy such prizes were divvied up by clannish tycoons who rigged bidding processes to pay a bargain-basement price, or were the subject of fierce infighting. When he took office 3 years ago, Putin declared an end to such practices and drove two of the most prominent oligarchs out of the country. The Slavneft drama, though, features many familiar elements from the past: manipulating co. or shareholder rules, deploying KGB-style security forces, disseminating compromising information through the media and shopping for courts in obscure provincial towns to obtain rulings ordering the other side to desist. In Russia, the group controlling management at the time of a sale wields enormous advantages, incl ability to determine value of the company's assets. Such oligarchs as automobile, oil and media tycoon Boris Berezovsky who fled the country demonstrated how easy it is to siphon off cash by managing companies in Russia, even without owning them. The state owns about 75% of Slavneft, while the former Soviet republic of Belarus owns 10.8% and private shareholders largely affiliated with Tyumen Oil Co. control another 12.5% The Russian govt wants to sell 19.68% of its shares, maintaining a majority position while allowing an outside investor to claim considerable influence over the company. Pre-auction action for Slavneft began this spring when govt convened emergency shareholders meeting to fire the co.'s president, Mikhail Gutseriev. The decision to oust Gutseriev was linked by some officials to a separate power struggle in an election campaign in the southern region of Ingushetia. The region is important because it borders war-ravaged Chechnya. Gutseriev's brother was a candidate in Ingushetia, but the Kremlin backed another candidate, who won. After that, govt of Russian PM Mikhail Kasyanov, one of the leading figures in the Family left over from Yeltsin's time, decided to remove Gutseriev from the oil co. It chose a Slavneft vp Yuri Sukhanov, to take over. Sukhanov previously worked at Sibneft, the oil co. controlled by another Family favorite, Roman Abramovich. According to Shtorkh, Gutseriev sought to regain the presidency of Slavneft, or pass it to an ally. He teamed up with yet another powerful Russian tycoon, Sergei Pugachev, and the bank he founded, Mezhprombank. Pugachev has emerged as one of the most intriguing power brokers in Putin's Moscow. He was once close to the Yeltsin team, but has now tied himself to Putin & his circle; he is often described as a friend of the country's general prosecutor, and reportedly shares the same Orthodox confessor with Putin. A few months ago, Pugachev resigned as head of Mezhprombank to take a seat in the Federation Council, upper chamber of parliament, although many analysts believe he still wields influence at the bank. Shortly after Sukhanov's appointment as Slavneft president , allegations of financial wrongdoing against him began appearing in some Russian media outlets. Slavneft vp Shtorkh blamed these reports on Pugachev. "This is all falsification," Shtorkh said. "If you look at it, you realize not even a cent has been stolen." Pugachev declined to be interviewed about Slavneft but noted that he no longer heads Mezhprombank. The bank likewise refused to comment, pointing instead to a recent statement denying any involvement in the events surrounding Slavneft. Shtorkh said he believes Pugachev or his allies had hoped that Putin would read the compromising material in the media about Slavneft's new president and intervene by firing his PM Kasyanov, or allowing Gutseriev to return to the company. Putin did neither. Sukhanov's foes tried another gambit. Before his appointment could be formally ratified, Gutseriev went on vacation and appointed another vp, Anatoly Baranovsky, as acting president of Slavneft. That did not change the outcome. Sukhanov was elected by the shareholders over Baranovsky and assumed command of the company. Kasyanov & govt property dept that oversees Slavneft declined to comment. In an interview, Gutseriev would not discuss Pugachev or the Ingushetia election, but defended his 2 year tenure at Slavneft as a period of improvement of the company. He said he accepted the decision to fire him. "I have no grudges against anyone," he said. "The will of the shareholders is the law." Yet the law remained open to interpretation after several small-town courts issued conflicting rulings in the dispute. On Fri. 5.24.02 as Bush was in Moscow for his meeting with Putin, dozens of security agents arrived at Slavneft with Baranovsky to claim the president's office. Security cameras captured the tall men in suits swarming through the building about 5 p.m. as the business week was ending. Sukhanov called the Interior Ministry for help. The impasse ended after 4 hours when the police received a bomb threat. "It would have been a real scandal if it hadn't been for the summit," said Shtorkh. The situation remains uncertain. Confusion reigns over who really controls the company and who can sign contracts, incl one with Citibank. Sukhanov occupies the office. Baranovsky checked himself into a hospital for what his lawyer called "a rest" but maintains he is still in charge. "He's acting president of the company," his attorney, Yevgeny Tarlo, said in an interview. He defended Baranovsky's use of security agents to enforce his claim. His client "had an agreement with the militia and the militia acted in that situation as his security guards. This is normal." Tarlo said the fight over Slavneft showed that in the Putin era such struggles will be played out in the open instead of the back room. "The fact that even before privatization starts the public has shown so much interest in the company proves that the sort of hidden privatization will not be possible," he said. As for who is the real president of Slavneft, he said, "The court will decide it. Now it's confusing, but the court will decide it."

Russia, Ukraine reach a deal on natural gas 1.5.06   Andrew E. Kramer NY Times Kiev, Ukraine   Ukraine and Russia settled their dispute over the price of natural gas yesterday with a deal that allowed both countries to save face, although Ukraine walked away with cheaper prices than most of Russia's other gas customers. President Vladimir Putin of Russia paid a stiff political price as his country's natural gas company, Gazprom, backpedaled on ultimatums of a gas embargo against Ukraine under pressure from European leaders who questioned the Kremlin's reliability as an energy provider. Ukraine's gas bill will about double next year, and the solution entangles Kiev in a complicated deal that surrenders control over its natural gas imports to an offshore company with a shady history even by post-Soviet standards. The countries settled the argument by naming RosUkrEnergo, a company owned 50 percent by Gazprom and 50 percent by an Austrian-based shell company with unknown beneficiaries, as the exclusive supplier of natural gas to Ukraine. Ukraine's national security adviser, Anatoly Kinakh, said Naftogaz, Ukraine's natural gas company, would assume a 50 percent ownership of RosUkrEnergo as part of the agreement. Russia will sell gas to RosUkrEnergo at the price it had demanded from Ukraine, $230 per 1,000 cubic meters, while Ukraine will buy gas from RosUkrEnergo for $95. Ukraine has been paying $50 per 1,000 cubic meters. RosUkrEnergo may cut its costs by selling Ukraine a greater volume of lower-priced gas from Central Asia. Reactor plan raises hopes & doubts   Facility to be built in France may be a cleaner source of energy or a huge waste of money. 7.29.05   David Holley, Sergei L. Loiko L.A. Times Moscow   In a bid to harness what backers say could be a nearly limitless source of clean electric power, an international consortium Tuesday chose France as the site for an experimental fusion reactor that will aim to replicate how the sun creates energy. The planned $13-billion project is one of the most prestigious and expensive international scientific efforts ever launched. But critics say the technological hurdles to be overcome are so vast that the money could be better spent in other ways. Japan and France, backed by roughly equal factions in the consortium planning the project, had competed fiercely for the prestige and economic benefits of hosting the project. But Tokyo agreed to a compromise: The fusion reactor is to be sited at Cadarache, near Marseille in southern France, while Japan will have the next-largest role in the project, providing research and staffing. Cadarache has one of the biggest civilian nuclear research centers in Europe. "We are making scientific history," Janez Potocnik, the European Union's science and research commissioner, said at a news conference in Moscow held to announce the agreement for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor project. "This is a great success for France, for Europe and for all of the partners in the ITER," French President Jacques Chirac said in a statement. "The international community will now be able to take on an unprecedented scientific and technological challenge, which opens great hopes for providing humanity with an energy that has no impact on the environment and is practically inexhaustible." Fusion is the process of atoms combining at extraordinarily high temperatures that not only provides the energy of the sun and stars but also gives hydrogen bombs their enormous power. The challenge faced by the international project is to control that energy in a selfsustaining reaction in which the heat released by fusion can be used to generate electricity, an engineering feat of daunting complexity. But the theoretical attractions of the idea are also great. The reactor's main fuel, deuterium, also known as heavy hydrogen, can be obtained from water. The project's website states that Lake Geneva alone contains enough deuterium to meet global energy needs for several thousand years. Existing nuclear reactors use fission, or the splitting of large atoms, to produce power, a process that leaves waste that remains highly radioactive for hundreds of thousands of years. Fusion reactors, by contrast, would produce minimal waste that would be radioactive for a much shorter time, backers say. A joint declaration signed here Tuesday at a meeting of representatives of the United States, the 25-member European Union, Russia, China, Japan and South Korea said the project would explore "the long-term potential of fusion energy as a virtually limitless, environmentally acceptable and economically competitive source of energy." The project is important for "the rapid realization of fusion energy for peaceful purposes and the stimulation of the interest of succeeding generations in fusion," it said. ITER was conceived at an international summit in 1985 as a showpiece for cooperation during the Cold War. Construction of the reactor is expected to take 10 years. The reactor itself is budgeted to cost about $6 billion and will produce about 10,000 jobs. The rest of the $13 billion is for associated research, a significant portion of it in Japan. If the ITER project is successful, long-term plans call for a demonstration fusion power plant to be built in the 2030s and the first commercial fusion plant to be built in mid-century. "As a project of unprecedented complexity spanning more than a generation, ITER marks a major step forward in international science cooperation," said Potocnik, the EU commissioner. "Now that we have reached consensus on the site for ITER, we will make all efforts to finalize the agreement on the project, so that construction can begin as soon as possible." The 500-megawatt reactor planned at Cadarache will be built for fusion to take place at more than 180 million degrees, with the hot fuel held in place by powerful magnetic fields. Vladimir Kuznetsov, director of the program for nuclear and radiation safety of the Russian Green Cross, said that "Russia was the country that initiated this kind of research" half a century ago, but that "since then nothing spectacular was achieved along that road." He expressed doubt that the project would ever come to fruition. According to the agreement reached Tuesday, the European Union as a whole will cover 40% of the cost and France alone will pay for an additional 10%. The remaining half will be paid by the other five partners, including the U.S., at 10% each. France will provide 40% of staffing and Japan 20%. Kuznetsov said he believed that Russia's contribution would be an inappropriate use of scarce funds better spent to safely dismantle decommissioned nuclear reactors and submarines. "In general I don't think it is quite moral and economically viable to launch extravagant and costly projects like this when millions of people on our Earth still go hungry," he said. Greenpeace International also issued a statement in Paris sharply criticizing the project. "Advocates of fusion research predict that the first commercial fusion electricity might be delivered in 50 to 80 years from now," Greenpeace said. "But most likely, it will lead to a dead end, as the technical barriers to be overcome are enormous." Nordics, Baltics seek control Russia tanker traffic 8.29.03   Reuters Lulea, Sweden   Nordic & Baltic states said on Friday they would apply for U.N. help to control rising Russian oil exports via the Baltic Sea to help avert spills that could wreck beaches and threaten fish stocks. Russia, world's second largest oil exporter behind Saudi Arabia, opposes the idea and aims to come up with its own proposals for tighter controls of rising tanker traffic. "We will put forward an application to the IMO (Intl Maritime Organization)," Swedish Environment Minister Lena Sommerstad told a news conference after a 2 day meeting of ministers from the region. She said that the countries, apart from Russia, wanted the Baltic Sea to be declared a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA) that could force tankers to stick to narrow routes and oblige them to use pilots near the coast. Sommerstad said she hoped the IMO would deal with the application at a meeting in March. Russia would make proposals of its own next month. Norway said in April that it would seek similar protection for the Arctic Barents Sea north of Russia, letting it ban tankers from 50 nautical miles from its rocky coasts. Russia frowns on the idea of PSSA status. "We don't see any legal reason to support this idea," Russian deputy minister Irina Osokina responsible for environmental issues, said in Lulea 8.28.03. The Baltic Sea states & environmental organizations have urged Russia to outlaw the use of oil tankers which they feel are not strong enough to cope with the ice that covers much of the Baltic Sea in winter. Even in the summer, they fear leaks, esp. from single-hulled tankers. The single-hulled Prestige sank after spilling part of its cargo of 77,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil off the Spanish & French coasts last year.

Environmentalists say an oil spill in Baltic & Barents seas could be even more harmful because the harsh climate means nature is slower to recover. The 1989 Exxon Valdez spill off Alaska caused lingering damage. With a PSSA rating, so far protecting only 5 sea areas such as Australia's Great Barrier Reef, coastal states could impose restrictions even on vessels traveling through intl waters.
Oil exports in the Baltic Sea will rise to 120 million tons annually by 2017 from 80 million tons in 1997 as new oil terminals in Russia are completed, according to intl govt backed environmental secretariat HELCOM. In the Barents Sea, some forecasts project that oil transport from Russia could multiply to 40 million tons annually by 2010, 4 or 5 tankers a day from a current one.

Africa     references & Darfur In Sudan, China focuses on oil wells, not local needs   6.25.07   Danna Harman, P. Ford Christian Sci. Monitor Paloich, South Sudan   Li Haowei's girlfriend gave him a silver ring when he left Liaoning, his home province in China, nine months ago. Before he boarded the flight to Sudan, Mr. Li had never even left Liaoning before. "You are so lucky," his girlfriend said, then, enviously. "I was happy to go abroad and see the world," says Li, an accountant for Petrodar, a multinational oil consortium. "But I did not know enough to know I did not want to come here." Paloich is not a particularly welcoming place. The heat surrounds and suffocates you like a plastic bag. The dust in the dry season sticks to your eyelashes and fills your nostrils. Mosquitoes buzz in your ears relentlessly. Li is making three times the salary he would at home. But he misses his girlfriend, he says, twisting his ring around. He misses Liaoning. He misses real Chinese food. Sometimes he can't sleep. Fear of malaria is a constant. He broke down crying when he read a tender letter from his mother last month. He does not like it here. The local Sudanese are not too keen on his presence here, either. Sudan's oil production averages 536,000 barrels a day, according to estimates by the Paris-based International Energy Agency. Other estimates say it is closer to 750,000 barrels a day. There is an estimated 5 billion-barrel reservoir of oil beneath Sudan's 1 million-square-mile surface, almost all of it in the south of the country, an area inhabited mainly by Christian and animist black Africans who fought a 21-year civil war against the Arab-dominated Muslim govt of the north. The vast majority of this oil, 64 percent, is sold to China, now the world's second-largest consumer of oil. While neither Khartoum, China, nor Petrodar release any statistics, this is generally believed to be an oil deal worth at least $2 billion a year. China's National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) is the majority shareholder in both Petrodar and the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company, two of the biggest oil consortiums in Sudan. CNPC has invested billions in oil-related infrastructure here in Paloich, including the 900-mile pipeline from the Paloich oil fields to the tanker terminal at Port Sudan on the Red Sea, a tarmac road leading to Khartoum, and a new airport with connecting flights to Beijing. But they have not invested in much else here. Locals live in meager huts, eating peanuts with perch fished out of the contaminated Nile. There is no electricity. A Swiss charity provides healthcare. An American aid group flies in food & mosquito nets. Most children do not go to school. There is no work to be found. Petrodar, for one, has its own workers, almost all of whom are foreigners (mostly Chinese, Malaysians, and Qataris) or Sudanese northerners. The consortium hires Paloich residents only rarely, for menial jobs. It's a picture of underdevelopment not unusual in Sudan's semiautonomous south. While some pockets like the regional capital of Juba and the bigger towns of Rumbek & Wau have seen some economic revival since the signing of the 2005 peace agreement, the majority of the south remains mired in abject poverty. Locals blame their lot on oppression by Sudan's Islamist govt and the long war with the north. But they also blame the Chinese. "[The Chinese] moved us away so we would not see what was going on. They were stealing our oil and they knew it," says rebel-turned-pastor Abraham Thonchol who grew up near Paloich. "Oil is valuable and we are not idiots. We were expecting something." US-based Chevron was the first oil company to arrive here, setting up operations in the 1980s. "They employed us," says Mr. Thonchol. "We helped with the drilling, drove them around, and worked as cooks". The second group of oilmen to show up was not as benevolent, say many locals. Thonchol's cousin, Peter Nyok, a 6 ft 6 inch member of the Dinka tribe with traditional lines carved on his forehead and 6 missing front teeth, says it took a while for locals to differentiate between Westerners and the Chinese that came later. "They looked like whites to us. We could not detect any difference, except, maybe, that they were shorter," he says. "But then we found they behaved differently". Chased out by civil war in the mid 1980s & '90s, and later kept away by pressure from human rights groups, Chevron and other Western companies left the oil fields for others. Canadian Talisman Energy, faced with a divestment campaign, was forced to sell its 25 % stake in the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company in 2002. Chinese firms were more than happy to fill the void. But the Chinese operations were marked "from the beginning," by a "deep complicity in gross human rights violations, scorched-earth clearances of the indigenous population," says Sudan activist Smith College prof. Eric Reeves in Northampton MA. Giving expert testimony before the congressionally mandated US-China Economic and Security Review Commission last August, Reeves claimed the Chinese gave direct assistance to Khartoum's military forces which, in turn, burned villages, chased locals away from their homes, and harmed the environment while prospecting for oil. Persecution International dir. Brad Phillips, an aid group working in South Sudan, has seen the destruction firsthand. "The Chinese are equal partners with Khartoum when it comes to exploiting resources and locals here," he says. "Their only interest here is their own." He would love to see the Chinese sponsor a school here, he says, or a clinic, or an agricultural program, or "anything for the people." But there is nothing like that in sight. Just miles of desolate land. "The Chinese simply do not care about us," says Paloich's mayor Martin Buywomo. "They have no contact. They never even came to my tent to pay respects. They think we are lesser people." A member of the Shilluk tribe who attended British mission schools, Buywomo puts down the worn copy of George Eliot's 19th-century classic "Silas Marner" he is reading and continues sadly. "We see them in their trucks but they overlook us. If they saw us dying on the road, they would overlook us". Buywomo rearranges the Chinese-made plastic pink flowers on his desk. "This is colonialism all over again." Thabo Mbeki, for one, might not rush to correct such an impression. Last December, the South African president, whose country is Beijing's largest trading partner on the continent, cautioned against an unequal and "colonial relationship" with China. Across the border, in neighboring Zimbabwe, a country that can ill afford to offend the few friends it has, respected newspaper publisher Trevor Ncube devoted a recent issue of his Zimbabwe Standard to whether doing business with China was "merely swapping our old colonial master for a new one." Perhaps most worrying for the Chinese is the grass-roots reaction to their advances in the southern African nation of Zambia. China, world's largest copper consumer, has pledged $800 million in investments in Zambia, one of the world's largest copper producers. Beijing has written off nearly $8 million of Zambia's debt and announced the establishment of a showcase free-trade zone which, according to China's ambassador to Zambia, will create tens of thousands of jobs. Nonetheless, in the lead-up to Zambia's 9.28.06 elections, presidential candidate Michael Sata turned lack of safety at Chinese owned mines, (where) 50 Zambian mine workers were killed by an explosion in 2005, into a major campaign issue. Sata fumed about what he called the plunder of the country's mineral wealth and disregard for the environment, and promised to kick out the Chinese and recognize Taiwan if he won. He did not. But a few months later, Chinese President Hu Jintao cancelled a visit to the Zambian copper-mining town of Chambishi due to fear of mass demonstrations against him there. This negative image of Beijing as a neo-colonizer could not be further from the way China, a country never involved in either the colonial "Scramble for Africa" of the 1800s or the African slave trade, wants to be perceived here. "Over the last half decade, the Chinese and African people have built a deep friendship in the course of the struggle for national liberation, development, and rejuvenation," then Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing told reporters after Mr. Hu's Zambia mine visit was canceled. "African friends, from leaders to civilians #133; called China a 'brother of Africa,' an 'all-weather friend,' and the 'most important partner,' " waxed Mr. Li. The Chinese, who, unlike the European powers who came before them, have no direct rule over any population here and negotiate the terms of their stay with the ruling govt, say abuses of power are exceptions to the way they do business. "We always encourage Chinese enterprises to be in equal-footed cooperation with their African counterparts, to abide by local laws and regulations," China's new special representative to Africa Liu Guijin told journalists in Beijing in April. "If they did something not so pleasant, that is not consistent with govt policy". China Institute of Contemporary International Relations African studies dept dir. Xu Weizhong, govt think tank in Beijing, refines this point. First of all, he says, many Chinese enterprises are independent and cannot be controlled. "Now even state-owned enterprises have room to maneuver … and will sometimes refuse govt policies. This is a dilemma for the Chinese govt". But furthermore, he says, while China is indeed aiming to be a fair business partner, the definition of what "good practice" might be should not be set by outsiders. "The Chinese govt respects African rules & regulations if there are any, [but] it is less willing to respect rules that Western govts impose on African issues," he states. Petrodar accountant Li dismisses the whole debate, calling the stories about stealing oil, degrading the people and the environment, and becoming new age colonizers "Ali Baba tales". "I am here to make money. My company is here to do the same," he says. "I know this is a very poor and insecure place, but I am not responsible for fixing all the things that are wrong in Sudan," he adds, not quite understanding the complaints. "That's life. That's business".

Africa: oil, al-Qaeda & U.S. military 3.30.04   Ritt Goldstein Asia Times Africa's Maghreb & Sahel regions recently exploded into world view with allegations that the Madrid bombers were tied to those areas' "al Qaeda" groups. While U.S. concerns about terrorism in the region have been increasingly voiced, critics of the administration of Pres. GWBush say that the ongoing US pursuit of energy resources lies behind them. As early as the fall of 2002, Britain's Economist magazine charged that oil "is the only American interest in Africa". In a fall 2003 interview with Asia Times Online, noted US security analyst & Resource Wars auth. Michael Klare warned of America's potential African involvement. When queried as to where the next oil flash point might be after Iraq, Klare replied: "I've been looking at Africa. It's heating up over there." Illustrating the basis for such statements, in 2001 VP Cheney's report on a U.S. National Energy Policy declared Africa to be one of America's "fastest-growing sources of oil and gas". By 2.1.02, asst secretary of state for African affairs Walter Kansteiner, declared: "This [African oil] has become of national strategic interest to us." Dec. 2001 report by U.S. National Intelligence Council, Global Trends 2015, forecast that by 2015 a full quarter of US oil imports would come from Africa. During Feb. 2004, a handful of top U.S. generals visited Africa in separate and far from usual trips. They included the U.S.'s European commander USMC Gen. James L Jones, as well as European deputy commander USAF Gen. Charles Wald. Excluding region known as Horn of Africa, U.S. European Command oversees U.S. African actions. The trips occurred against a widely reported backdrop of increasing pressures from U.S. industry & conservative policy groups to secure energy sources outside the MidEast. Over the past several months, U.S. has been in the process of dispatching Special Forces troops to the countries of Africa's Sahel - Mauritania, Chad, Mali and Niger. The effort is part of a program dubbed the Pan Sahel Initiative, designed to provide anti-terrorism training to the region's military. Others have termed it a program to train regional armies. Involved U.S. Special Forces groups are operating out of Germany, where an investigation of the Madrid bombers is also ongoing. Military cooperation with Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia has reportedly been increased as well. Fairly recent substantial oil discoveries fuel this effort; Washington Times declared in 2.26.04 headline "U.S. eyes terrorism networks, oil in Africa." In Colombia, similar U.S. undertakings to train local forces have been previously pursued to secure that country's oil infrastructure, particularly its pipelines. There, leftist group known by the Spanish acronym FARC has long waged a guerilla campaign, pipeline sabotage being a favored tactic. Similarly, ongoing pipeline sabotage in Iraq is reported as substantial, in U.S. Defense Dept Dec. 2003 report referred to the "open-ended imperial policing" that Iraqi involvement now means. Casting a new light on 3.11.04 Madrid bombing, primary group Salafia Jihadia allegedly behind the attack was said to have singled out Spain in 5.16.03 Morocco bombings. Private Spanish club Casa de Espana was the most severely damaged among the 5 targets in Morocco. Other targets included: Israeli Alliance club & a Jewish cemetery, Belgian consulate (Belgium's business community has been very active in Morocco), and a hotel for business people. The Moroccan economy is in the throes of "structural reforms", and increasing privatization is straining relations within the country. The May bombing followed a summer 2002 standoff between Spain & Morocco over a disputed island, Spanish commandos eventually reclaiming it from Moroccan control. A long-simmering dispute also exists between Spain & Morocco over 2 remaining Spanish sovereignty enclaves in the country, Ceuta & Melilla. Considerably more Spanish troops are said to garrison these enclaves than were dispatched by Madrid to Iraq. Some speculate that beyond Islamist objectives, motivation behind Madrid's blasts may have included some very traditional, anti-imperialist sentiment. In commentary on Salafia Jihadia agenda, just 2 days prior to the Madrid attacks, CIA dir. Tenet testified before Senate Committee on Armed Services. He specifically cited Salafia, saying that it was among "small local groups with limited domestic agendas". He added that these groups "have autonomous leadership, they pick their own targets, they plan their own attacks". Yet according to Agence France-Presse, the Madrid attacks are now said to have been planned at a "rear base" of al-Qaeda, located where Morocco borders Mali, Mauritania and Algeria. An Algerian group, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), was also allegedly involved. As with every other major bombing over the past several months, Jordanian-Palestinian militant Abu Musab al- Zarqawi is alleged to have been the "mastermind", though some experts in the intelligence community have expressed doubts. In the case of the old anti-communist movement & mind set, all communists were once lumped together, their many groups & factions considered essentially as one led by the Soviet Union, similar Western mind set regarding today's Islamic militants. Some analysts note that those today called "al-Qaeda" share certain commonality, but differences between groups is often great, notably, differences between communist groups & nations that they occasionally led to armed confrontation, warfare and splits, as in the case of China vs Vietnam and Sino-Soviet tensions. GSPC reportedly did fight a running battle Mid-March 2003 with forces from Niger then Chad; U.S. reportedly flewn food, blankets and medical supplies from Germany to aid Chad's forces. With US military efforts based in Germany, one explanation for Germany's ongoing terror investigations becomes apparent. Subsequent to the Niger & Chad GSPC battles, US concerns about the GSPC attempting to topple the Mauritania & Algeria govts were reported. In the recent debate over so-called "intelligence failures", a pattern of wildly "exaggerating" known threats has also been reported. Now such exaggerations are widely accepted as having provided basis for the US's military involvement in Iraq. GSPC has been long fighting to topple Algerian govt and install an Islamic state. This resistance arose after Algerian govt canceled the 1992 election in order to "keep an Islamic party from coming to power", according to the Toronto Star. While pro-US Mauritania govt of Maaouyah Ould Sid Ahmed Taya fought off a June 2003 coup attempt, it was widely reported as by Islamists from within that country's own military, not the GSPC. Taya himself came to power in a 1984 coup and elections in that country are broadly described as "suspect". Mauritania is also widely acknowledged as a country where slavery still exists; Washington Times reported July 2003 that "Taya, like other pro-American leaders in the Arab world, has cracked down on political & religious opposition". Paradoxically, if US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice's so-called "democratic wave" were to actually engulf the region, it appears that hardest hit would be the bulk of U.S. allies. Mauritania & Algeria both have oil. In a perspective of the oil industry shared by many NGOs, NYC based Global Policy Forum exec. dir. Jim Paul in January Asia Times Online interview observed: "The oil industry is all about super-profits. Since everyone is pursuing this, and the marketplace doesn't effectively regulate it, there's been war, bribery and corruption virtually wherever the oil industry goes." In 2002, Rice's old firm, Chevron Texaco (she was a director), had said that while it invested US$5 billion in Africa over the previous 5 years, it would invest $20 billion over the next 5. Given such US energy investment, it's no surprise that a 2002 edition of highly respected industry newsletter Alexander's Gas & Oil Connections said in a headline: "US moves to protect interest in African oil." While several authorities were quoted as emphasizing that Africa's oil supplies were free from any major threats, the piece added that the Bush administration was determined to "ensure that they remain so". Steady evolution & deterioration of African security has been reported to the media by US officials. Whereas in 2002 the continent offered apparently stable oil field conditions, that assessment was changed almost simultaneously with the level of domestic US pressures to acquire African oil; a substantive al-Qaeda threat materializing proportionate to the need for oil. Some believe Sec. State Powell best illustrated a methodology that explained such circumstances last summer. At 7.10.03 press conference in South Africa, Powell was asked how he would respond to critics who charged that new U.S. focus on Africa was really about African oil. Powell replied "we are not here for any other purpose than to demonstrate our friendship, to demonstrate our commitment, and to see if we can help people in need". Recent questions have been raised in the US Congress regarding the administration's apparent pursuit of cynical ploys and misleading verbiage in its pronouncements. As regards help for those in need, the tiny West African island-state of Sao Tome has been rumored since 2002 as the site for a potential U.S. naval base. Sao Tome's strategic position in the Gulf of Guinea, where recent deep-water oil finds have been made, led to a meeting between Bush & Sao Tome's then-president Fradique de Menezes in 2002. U.S. allies in the area have virtually no blue-water navy; Sao Tome holds jointly with Nigeria an area with a reported potential of 11 billion barrels of oil. Many of the other newly discovered African reserves are located offshore as well. July 2003 military coup, shortly followed Powell's African trip, ousted president de Menezes, within the past 2 weeks (March 2003) said "U.S. experts" began training the island's security apparatus, voicing concerns about al-Qaeda operating in the West African region. U.S. Defense Dept document this winter by Dr. Jeffrey Record said: "The contemporary language on terrorism has become, as Conor Gearty puts it, 'the rhetorical servant of the established order'." It emphasized that almost nothing matters "a jot against the contemporary power of the terrorist label".

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