2006年VOA标准英语-Saudi Arabia Steps Up Security at Oil Faci

By Sonja Pace
Washington
09 March 2006

Saudi Arabia's oil minister says his country is stepping up security around its petroleum 1 installations, following last month's foiled terrorist attack.  In Washington, VOA's Sonja Pace takes a look at the importance and vulnerability of Saudi Arabia's oil installations and the potential impact on world economies if a future terrorist attack should succeed.

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Ali Ibrahim Naimi gestures as he talks to journalists prior to start of  conference of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) at the OPEC headquarters in Vienna, on Wednesday, March 8, 2006  
  

Speaking at the OPEC ministers meeting in Vienna, Saudi Oil Minister Ali Naimi said Wednesday his government has tightened 2 security around all its petroleum installations.  He said the move was prompted by last month's attempted suicide bombing of the Abqaiq facility - which is the world's largest oil processing plant and handles two-thirds of the Kingdom's overall petroleum output.

A local al-Qaida group quickly claimed responsibility for the Abqaiq attack and warned more would follow.

Speaking to VOA in Washington, Saudi embassy spokesman, Nail al Jubeir said the government obviously takes the threat very seriously.

"This is the lifeblood of the country," he said. "This is the lifeblood of the industrialized world.  We take it very seriously. They [the facilities] have been protected.  There are various levels of security, various perimeters 4, high-tech 5 security and if al-Qaida had a chance to go after them in the beginning, they would have."

Saudis gather outside gates of Abqaiq oil facility as an ambulance rushes in, Feb. 24, 2006  
  
Saudi-born Osama bin 3 Laden 6 has long sought to overthrow 7 the pro-Western monarchy 8 of his home country and over a year ago released a video calling for attacks on oil facilities as a way to bring down the royal family and cripple Western economies. 

Even though the Abqaiq attack was foiled, the incident sent oil prices up two dollars a barrel on world markets and prompted much discussion about the importance and vulnerability of Saudi Arabia's oil installations.

Energy analyst 9 Gal 10 Luft, of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, says market jitters 11 after the Abqaiq incident are no surprise and he warns a successful attack would have devastating 12 economic consequences.

"We are dealing 13 today with an oil market that is extremely tight, Luft said. "There is no spare production capacity, outside of Saudi Arabia and if you have an attack against a Saudi installation that carries two, three, four, five or six million barrels a day, that means the only way the market can equalize itself is through uncontrolled increase in prices, and oil prices could really reach a very high level - way over 100 dollars a barrel."

Saudi authorities have battled Islamic militants 14 for the past several years.  In Washington, independent security analyst Vincent Cannistraro tells VOA the government has been quite successful in its efforts. 

"We know that the al-Qaida cell that carried this out is really a very inexperienced cell," Cannistraro said. "Its [the local al-Qaida] leadership in Saudi Arabia has been devastated 15 over the past two years.  There has been a succession of new heads of al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia as previous ones have either been killed or captured.  So, there are a lot of inexperienced people in the organization.  Now, that doesn't make them less zealous 16 or less intent on carrying out violent activities, but it does make them less capable of doing it."

Cannistraro says he has no doubt militants will continue to try to strike Saudi oil installations.

Saudi embassy spokesman Nail al Jubeir agrees that there is no shortage of what he calls "fanatics 17" willing to try.

"The terrorists' objective is to be able to crack security once and that'll do the damage.  We can't afford that," he said.

Al Jubeir said he could not provide details of just what new security measures are being put in place.  But in Vienna, Saudi oil minister Ali Naimi is quoted as saying that deploying 18 surface to air missiles to guard against any possible attacks by air is part of the strategy.