US plans bringing post-Saddam Iraqi oil production up to date

US energy industry experts are poised to modernize Iraq's vast oil production facilities to help cover the tab for billions of dollars in post-war reconstruction. Several sources have told that the former Texas oil man in the Oval Office is devoting considerable attention to the future of the world's second-largest oil reserves in a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq.
Bush told House and Senate energy bill conferees last month that "American technology will have those oil fields even more productive" after the US ends Saddam's regime, confirmed Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Manhattan), who attended the meeting. Any such rebuilding effort is expected to take several years -- and hundreds of millions of dollars in US aid.

Administration officials said the Pentagon's battle plan includes protecting the Iraqi fields from the kind of sabotage Saddam committed in 1991. His troops set wells on fire as they retreated from their occupation of Kuwait, triggering infernos that took months to extinguish.
In a new Gulf war, seizing the oil fields to prevent similar sabotage is a critical early objective. Once the fields are secured, US-led efforts will begin to reverse decades of neglect caused by Saddam's emphasis on military spending and the United Nations embargo on most commerce with Iraq.

Facilities have deteriorated so radically that advanced US technology is critical to restoring and expanding oil production, according to Iraqi National Congress adviser Francis Brooke. "It is obvious... that the US is the leader in this industry and will play a leading role" in bringing post-Saddam Iraqi oil production up to date, Brooke said, adding that Iraqi National Congress officials have had extensive conversations about oil with Bush officials.
Iraqi oil production averaged 1.97 mm bpd in the first seven months of 2002, down from a peak of 3.48 mm in 1979, according to US government estimates. Iraq's UN ambassador charged on ABC that Bush wants "to control Iraqi oil."

The White House has consistently rejected such assertions. "It is not a factor," Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer said. "This is about preserving the peace and saving the lives of Americans." Rangel said he believes "that oil is a big part of this," even though he's never heard a direct linkage mentioned in administration briefings.
Bush's comment came when Rangel asked if the President had "considered the impact the lack of oil production in Iraq" caused by a US invasion would have "on the United States and our friends in Europe." As Rangel recalls, Bush essentially replied: "’Yes, Charlie, I have given your question a lot of thought' [and] said he has assured our friends and neighbours in Europe that their oil supplies would not be adversely affected by his, quote, liberation of Iraq." White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan would neither confirm nor deny Rangel's account but acknowledged that Bush is "carefully reviewing all aspects of any course of action."