US Marines sent on mission to secure oil wells

By TERRI JUDD and FIONA O'BRIEN in South Rumaila

United States engineers moved through Iraq's vast southern Rumaila oilfields yesterday, shutting down well heads in an operation that could take months to complete.

Having discovered a cache of arms and a minefield, US troops must tread carefully in their mission to safeguard the region's oilfields, which pumped more than half Iraq's 1.7 million barrels a day in exports before the war began.

"We have to safeguard them," said Major Jorge Lizarralde, of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. "We have to shut them down to assess them and make repairs to the infrastructure so we can start them up again and get the oil flowing."

Washington has said a top priority is to protect Iraq's oil wealth for its people.

It has taken about a week for engineers to shut down 135 of 190 well heads in the South Rumaila oilfield. The US team is set to move this week into the sister North Rumaila field, which holds 290 wells.

"We will strive to get the oil turned on as soon as possible. We are probably talking months," said John Forslund, a programme manager for the US Army Corps of Engineers.

Along with the well heads, the engineers have shut down other facilities in South Rumaila, including five of the six plants which separate natural gas from crude oil.

Firefighters are now tackling two wellhead fires in South Rumaila, having already doused two others. Fewer than 10 fires were reported.

Resumption of oil output from the southern fields would allow for a resumption of exports, as well as renewed operations at the 140,000-barrel-a-day Basra refinery on the outskirts of Iraq's second city.

British frontline forces of 16 Air Assault Brigade moved into Iraq's western desert last week in a mission aimed at offering humanitarian aid as well as targeting pockets of resistance.

The commanding officer of the brigade's 3 Regiment Army Air Corps said that the Rumaila oilfields were secure.

The Army's elite helicopter force is maintaining a presence around the gas and oil separation plants, which produce 60 per cent of Iraq's crude oil and its area of operations includes an area inhabited predominantly by Bedouins and marsh Arabs.

Because of the scale of the operation, covering 63,000sq km, the pilots are keeping watch for any obvious signs of refugees or armed resistance, calling in help from the infantry of the Royal Irish Regiment if they encounter Iraqi fire or see any displaced groups needing humanitarian aid.

The area includes one of the largest prisoner-of-war camps, as well as the marshes inhabited by Arabs who have traditionally been oppressed by President Saddam Hussein.

Cimic (civil military co-operation) teams were said to be moving in to make contact with them.

Three Regiment Army Air Corps, which has 17 operational helicopters, including Lynx Mk7s, armed with anti-tank missiles, and Gazelles for reconnaissance, has been bolstered by Royal Air Force Puma teams for their task.

"It is an interesting, exciting and unconventional job for an aviation battle group," said the regiment's commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel George Butler.

"It is something we would not normally do. Our task is normally centred on offensive operations.

"The reason we have been chosen is that we have better communications, flexibility and speed. We can cover much more ground relatively quickly, maximising resources and offering humanitarian aid."

Butler insisted the Rumaila oilfields were now secure, despite news that elements of 16 Air Assault Brigade were still encountering opposition from the Iraqi 6th Armoured Division in the northern sector.

While none of the expected explosives were found on the gas and oil separation plants which cover the area, half a dozen well heads continue to blaze, emitting choking smoke and burning off an estimated US$12 million ($21.7 million) of oil an hour.

Civilian contractors began putting out the fires last week. One Kuwaiti team is said to have extinguished a blazing well.

- INDEPENDENT, REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq war