Israel's Oil Interests and their strategic new role protecting pipelines

[Dover]

The War on Lebanon and the Battle for Oil

by Michel Chossudovsky
July 26, 2006

The bombing of Lebanon is part of a carefully planned and coordinated military road map. The extension of the war into Syria and Iran has already been contemplated by US and Israeli military planners. This broader military agenda is intimately related to strategic oil and oil pipelines. It is supported by the Western oil giants which control the pipeline corridors. In the context of the war on Lebanon, it seeks Israeli territorial control over the East Mediterranean coastline.

GlobalResearch.ca


Is there a relationship between the bombing of Lebanon and the inauguration of the World's largest strategic pipeline, which will channel more than a million barrels of oil a day to Western markets?

Virtually unnoticed, the inauguration of the Ceyhan-Tblisi-Baku (BTC) oil pipeline, which links the Caspian sea to the Eastern Mediterranean, took place on the 13th of July, at the very outset of the Israeli sponsored bombings of Lebanon.

One day before the Israeli air strikes, the main partners and shareholders of the BTC pipeline project, including several heads of State and oil company executives were in attendance at the port of Ceyhan. They were then rushed off for an inauguration reception in Istanbul, hosted by Turkey's President Ahmet Necdet Sezer in the plush surroundings of the Çýraðan Palace.

Also in attendance was British Petroleum's (BP) CEO, Lord Browne together with senior government officials from Britain, the US and Israel. BP leads the BTC pipeline consortium. Other major Western shareholders include Chevron, Conoco-Phillips, France's Total and Italy's ENI. (see Annex)

Israel's Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Binyamin Ben-Eliezer was present at the venue together with a delegation of top Israeli oil officials.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=CHO20060726&articleId=2824
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[AlamoDemoc]

1. thanks...excellent analysis indeed

[Missy M]

2. Killing all the people they do and destroying countries....

all for oil. No one will ever make me believe the destruction of Lebanon was over two Israeli soldiers being abducted. Did they toast each other at the inauguration reception for the pipeline, telling each other how clever they are. The US, England and Israel deserve to be charged with war crimes.

[Nikki Stone 1]

3. Is this the same Caspian pipeline allegedly behind the Afghanistan war?

I have been reading about the Caspian populine on and off for years. All that death and destruction of life, rights and property for a goddamned pipeline?

[Dover]

5. I believe that is another section, but they are all connected.

The Oil Connection: Afghanistan and Caspian Sea oil pipeline routes
http://www.newhumanist.com/oil.html

Afghanistan plans gas pipeline
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1984459.stm


Pipeline Timeline:
http://www.ringnebula.com/Oil/Timeline.htm

[Nikki Stone 1]

7. So all this killing is one big pipeline project

What a fucking waste

[MADem]

4. I don't think there is ANY relation

What if Nasrallah hadn't obliged by capturing soldiers, killing soldiers, and launching rockets and missiles?

This war never would have happened. Did Israel, then, bribe Nasrallah to start it up??

Naaaah.

This pipeline has been in the works for YEARS. And the Turkey to Haifa part (which will carry electricity, water, and LNG as well) has not even been BUILT yet. AND, it isn't an overland pipeline, it's underwater, in international waters.

[Dover]

6. Doubt Nasrallah anticipated this level of escalation.

I think Hezbollah wanted a prisoner exchange.
Israel just exploited the opportunity.

[MADem]

8. Haifa has been a pipeline outlet for half a century

This stuff isn't new. It's a major industrial port. http://www.ciaonet.org/pbei/winep/policy_2003/2003_805/

For Israel, the direct economic benefits of the Tipline's revitalization will be comparatively small. Transit fees, which may be as little as 10 cents per barrel, will presumably be used to pay for the improvements in the pipeline. On a global scale, however, the extra oil on the market should ease upward pressures on prices. The OPEC cartel, which cut production in September 2003 because Iraqi oil returning to the market was depressing prices, has made several efforts to persuade Russia to restrain its exports. Indeed, the issue was reportedly on the agenda when Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia visited Moscow in September — a visit that apparently resulted in little agreement regarding oil. On November 3, Russian energy minister Igor Yusufov told OPEC that "an urgent production boost needed to bring prices down." He also declared that Russia would pursue a seemingly contradictory policy of "continu to develop its hydrocarbon sector" while "respecting OPEC's market share." Evidently, President Vladimir Putin's stance is to allow revenue-hungry Russian oil companies to do what exactly what they want — seize market share by selling more oil.

Russian oil transported through the Tipline could also put pressure on the so-called "Asian premium," the extra dollar or so per barrel that Middle Eastern exporters charge Asian customers simply because they can. Not surprisingly, this extra charge is a matter of considerable resentment in Asia and has played a part in restricting economic growth there.

With this Turkish effort on top of others, the "Asian premium" might go away. Not that it matters with the prices nowadays.

Here's what I think is going on. Israel and Asia are busy, sensibly making contingency plans because that fucking kook in the White House cannot be trusted to use diplomacy as a first, last, or ANY resort. Iran got a thirty day notice at the UN to stop their uranium enrichment program three days ago, but everyone is so busy looking at that shithead in a turban flushing Lebanon down the toilet that no one is noticing it.

That insane cowboy went after Iraq when they had nothing to do with 911; maybe he'll try to redeem himself by going after Iran with TWO reasons instead of one--getting rid of militia proxies like Nasrallah, and that uranium thing. Of course, you never roll out new product in August...per Andy Card....but if you work your ass off in September, you just might have yourself an October surprise just in time for November voting....

[Mojorabbit]

9. This war was planned over a year ago

There was an article in one of the big california papers about it. A search of du would find it. Any provocation would have been sufficient to put it into action. Surely you did not think it was about the kidnapped soldiers?

[MADem]

10. Surely, I did.

And murdered ones as well. And a small matter of rockets and missiles (two hundred today) flying over the border.

If they actually PLANNED this war, you would imagine Olmert would have selected a more seasoned Minister of Defence when putting together his new government, not an unschooled civilian. There would have been a force buildup and a major callup AHEAD of the event, not weeks into it.

If this was so well planned and everyone knew about it ahead of time, why didn't Nasrallah get the memo? They keep up with the news, too, and their political arms are more than capbable of making assessments about intentions.

YMMV.

[JackNewtown]

11. "unschooled civilian"

That unschooled civilian also happens to be the head of Israel's second biggest political party, the Labor Party. The #2 position was reserved for Kadima's Livni. Peretz essentially had the #3 pick in the Israeli cabinet draft, and he smartly chose the Defense Ministry. Obviously, in a state that has long been in an Orwellian perpetual war the position is extremely important--but the real value relates to his status as an "unschooled civilian." By serving as the DM, he can eliminate his perceived weakness on defense issues by the next election.

If the war was pre-planned, it would require a pretext and the buildup could only occur after the pretext was found.

Why didn't Hezbollah know? The same reason no one outside of, perhaps the highest levels of the US and UK governments, didn't know. It was kept secret, obviously. Why do you think Saddam didn't get the Downing Street memo?

For the record, I don't buy the reports I have seen thus far but I don't automatically dismiss them either. Israel is no angel that is above using military force to achieve its political and economic goals. We can't assume Olmert is any better than Bush and Blair, who, perhaps not-so incidentally, are his only allies in the world on this...

[MADem]

16. Now ain't the time for OJT in Defense

And surely, given the conscript/ready reserve nature of that nation, they coulda found SOMEONE with a little operational experience, and cut everyone in the cabinet in on the deal, if this was pre-planned. Come to think of it, who hit Sharon with the taser to get him out of the way and clear the road for this adventure? Is Olmert the Israeli Cheney?

If they were planning this ahead of time, they would have found a way to cut a deal and put someone in Defense who better knew how to call it. Right now, every single pilot fuckup is on Peretz' head. Supposedly, he can't sleep at night for the targeting errors. But now the dove is hawk, and he's struggling, because he has to rely on his senior uniforms, and he doesn't have the nuance to be able to figure out who is BSing him.

But, whatever. It will take more than that to sell me that Israel somehow leapt into this hellhole with eyes wide open and hearts full of glee. I just don't buy it. I think they realized that Nasrallah's crew was not going to stop capturing people and lobbing missiles. And once he started up, by sheer numbers they came to realize they have a serious rocket problem up north, and they can either handle it now, or spend five years handling it later (with a possible tac nuke warhead threat in the mix, courtesy of the Persian pals) and maybe not win.

[JackNewtown]

18. Peretz had his pick after Lipini

He wanted to be DM. He would get what he wanted or Labor would not join the Likud-lite coalition. This is just how parliamentry governments work. Peretez was in a strong position.

I agree, there needs to be more evidence presented to prove this was pre-planned. Let's see what journalists in the UK are able to find out about this, given Blair's alleged foreknowledge...

[MADem]

20. Too much serendipity for a pre-planned adventure.

When you think about it, if it were a great big conspiracy, they'd have found a way to 'manage' the Sharon stroke, too, and not have changed the government in what, May of this year? It's a total stretch to say this was all mapped out a year ago and is on autopilot even with a brand new government in place. It would suggest that Israel, like some speculate about other countries, with the US at the top of the list, has one of those spooky "shadow governments" too!

Since Sharon went and had a stroke and screwed up the plan, it would be far easier to act like Sharon is still in charge, if we want to get over-the-top conspiratorial. They could have propped him up for pictures from the side/back, said his stroke causes him to drool, look paralyzed and unable to talk, but he still has all his brains and can "write notes." To really sell the story, they could make up bullshit anecdotes about how he writes wry comments; have INTEL forge/fake them and provide copies to the media--he'd be a disabled hero, they could keep that going for many months, then kill him off with a second stroke or a heart attack at their leisure. ` They'd get Mossad to spread the lie, get a doctor to back them up, and have Olmert be the "public face" of the government. Then, no need to change MinDefs or anyone else.

Every country has "contingency plans." There are people who sit around all day imagining what would happen if Country X attacked...how many weapons needed to respond based on size of military, how long to defeat, battle plans and so on. These little scenarios are kept on file. Every combination imaginable--Canada, with ally Aruba and Botswana, attack Mexico--that sort of thing.

You can bet Israel's "northern border" notebook is regularly updated, and stuffed to the gills with scenarios, given they've got lots of enemies. Most of the plans probably start out with "(fill in name of country/proxy militia) assumes de-facto control of southern Lebanon and begins making incursions/firing missiles/shooting rockets across the northern Israeli border......."

But contingency planning, which EVERYONE does, doesn't equate to "planned a year in advance." So I just cannot buy the premise.

Of course, we can be sure someone will come along and suggest Sharon was "offed" (never mind his morbid obesity) with a serious stroke so he couldn't OBJECT to the machinations!!!

[breakaleg]

12. interesting theory..

but there have been several theories put out the last few days, and all of them seem credible and have lots of support backing them up.


only time will tell.

[Dover]

13. Wouldn't want this to be the 'winning theory'

But I'd be interested in seeing some of the other theories you are referring to.

[breakaleg]

14. me neither...

I can't search on here to find the links, but one was about the push to the Litani River to gain control of the water source. Another about antagonizing Syria with the goal of confrontation with Iran.

Then there is the alarmingly coincidence of the announcement of the peace initiative brokered by Hamas and three Israeli Rabbis including Menachem Froman.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/D6B63C28-F631-4DA5-A76F-9014523ABCD6.htm

[Dover]

15. I think the first two on your list are inclusive in this one.

And then there is my own which combines a few:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1820859

[pelsar]

17. full of it...

some stuiped 'conspiracy theory"....too much time on your hands.

i' ll make it short:

Hezballas been attacking and preparing for this for 6 years.
Israel has been preparing for this for years (we call them contingency plans...armies do that you know)

Hezballa succeed in kidnapping two soldiers....israels "weak spot"

Hezballs has lots and lots of missles....and was slowly taking over lebanon (s. lebanon, E. lebanon and parts of beruit)

_________

time up!..they went too far....time to push them from the border and weaken them.....thats all it is boys and girls. a local conflict for local reasons (and worldwide implications)

[megatherium]

19. I am inclined to agree with you.

There is an absolutely incredible amount of recycled Soviet era anti-Israel, anti-America propaganda on DU now. I'm on the verge of leaving DU.

[happydreams]

21. WTF is Hezballas? Your comments are nearly unintelligible.