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American Morning
How Important is Oil in the War Equation?
Aired October 15, 2002 - 08:51 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The Bush administration still wants the U.N. to pass tougher new measures to check Iraq's weapons programs. Iraq says it isn't building weapons of mass destruction, and charges that the U.S. is merely interested in its oil. Already America Iraq is biggest customer at the pumps. So how important is oil in the war equation?
Garrick Utley checks it out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARRICK UTLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Americans fill up their cars with gas, there's an irony you can't see. Of the limited amount of oil Iraq is allowed to sell abroad under United Nation sanctions, the United States has become the biggest customer, more than 800,000 barrels a day. Amid all concerns about Saddam Hussein's weapons and American fears of terrorism, we don't hear much about Iraqi oil. How important is it in the effort to drive Saddam from power?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oil is the number one reason. Oil will become very cheap and would be abundant, and the economies of the world would improve.
UTLEY: Is that a price worth fighting for? Iraq is second only to Saudi Arabia in the size of the crude and oil reserves. The oil is inexpensive to pump, and easy to ship in a pipeline from Turkey or on ships through the Persian Gulf.
(on camera): And then there's the oil weapon, right here in the United Nation Security Council. If key nations here were to veto U.N. support for an American invasion of Iraq, they could pay a high price.
For example, the French representative who sits here and the Russian who sits over there, they know that their nations have lucrative agreements with Iraq to pump oil there, once the U.N. sanctions have been lifted. They worry that the United States over here, could remove Saddam Hussein by itself and that the new Iraqi government might favor American oil interests over theirs.
(voice-over): Russian companies hold a majority stake in the future development of the West Corna (ph) oil field, one of the world's largest, with estimated reserves of 20 billion barrels. So what will the Russians or the French do?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They want to resist as much as they can, but in the end they will join us, because this is the winning team. You better join in, or you will be left.
UTLEY: When George Bush called on the United Nations for support in driving Saddam Hussein from power, oil was an unspoken factor.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A regime that has lost its legitimacy will also lose its power.
UTLEY: But when American officials look at Saudi Arabia, oil and terrorism merge into one potential nightmare. Fifteen of the 19 September 11th terrorists came from Saudi Arabia. The fear is that oil production there could one day be threatened by rising Islamic fervor and anti-Western anger. That, too, makes Iraq's oil all the more attractive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The major oil companies of the world, they are not going to go to Russia or to Saudi Arabia or to the North Sea or to the Gulf of Mexico. Iraq will be where the oil is. They can expand production and reserve at much faster pace than any other place in the world.
UTLEY: Which, again, would help to keep oil prices downs and economy growing, once he is gone.
Garrick Utley, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired October 15, 2002 - 08:51 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The Bush administration still wants the U.N. to pass tougher new measures to check Iraq's weapons programs. Iraq says it isn't building weapons of mass destruction, and charges that the U.S. is merely interested in its oil. Already America Iraq is biggest customer at the pumps. So how important is oil in the war equation?
Garrick Utley checks it out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARRICK UTLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Americans fill up their cars with gas, there's an irony you can't see. Of the limited amount of oil Iraq is allowed to sell abroad under United Nation sanctions, the United States has become the biggest customer, more than 800,000 barrels a day. Amid all concerns about Saddam Hussein's weapons and American fears of terrorism, we don't hear much about Iraqi oil. How important is it in the effort to drive Saddam from power?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oil is the number one reason. Oil will become very cheap and would be abundant, and the economies of the world would improve.
UTLEY: Is that a price worth fighting for? Iraq is second only to Saudi Arabia in the size of the crude and oil reserves. The oil is inexpensive to pump, and easy to ship in a pipeline from Turkey or on ships through the Persian Gulf.
(on camera): And then there's the oil weapon, right here in the United Nation Security Council. If key nations here were to veto U.N. support for an American invasion of Iraq, they could pay a high price.
For example, the French representative who sits here and the Russian who sits over there, they know that their nations have lucrative agreements with Iraq to pump oil there, once the U.N. sanctions have been lifted. They worry that the United States over here, could remove Saddam Hussein by itself and that the new Iraqi government might favor American oil interests over theirs.
(voice-over): Russian companies hold a majority stake in the future development of the West Corna (ph) oil field, one of the world's largest, with estimated reserves of 20 billion barrels. So what will the Russians or the French do?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They want to resist as much as they can, but in the end they will join us, because this is the winning team. You better join in, or you will be left.
UTLEY: When George Bush called on the United Nations for support in driving Saddam Hussein from power, oil was an unspoken factor.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A regime that has lost its legitimacy will also lose its power.
UTLEY: But when American officials look at Saudi Arabia, oil and terrorism merge into one potential nightmare. Fifteen of the 19 September 11th terrorists came from Saudi Arabia. The fear is that oil production there could one day be threatened by rising Islamic fervor and anti-Western anger. That, too, makes Iraq's oil all the more attractive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The major oil companies of the world, they are not going to go to Russia or to Saudi Arabia or to the North Sea or to the Gulf of Mexico. Iraq will be where the oil is. They can expand production and reserve at much faster pace than any other place in the world.
UTLEY: Which, again, would help to keep oil prices downs and economy growing, once he is gone.
Garrick Utley, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
