GLOBAL OIL CONSPIRACY

                  “…and when Iraq switched its currency to Euro, American analysts fell about laughing; Iraq had just made a mistake that was going to beggar the nation. But two years on, alarm bells were sounding; the euro was rising against the dollar and then…”

      Oil has always been a major subject of interest to mankind since its maiden discovery. The importance of oil to the modern world is imitable, one-off in character and improbably far-reaching in scope. It is a singularly autonomous variable in the world's economy and is as potent & influential as federal reserve decisions, the euro-dollar exchange rates, conditions in the global stock market indexes, national progress rates and the level of inflation throughout the world. In the modern era,  oil has shaded all the major mechanisms and it would be a herculean task for anyone, to find a substance or phenomena in world's history, that has held a comparable position.

Global Strategic Routes of Oil

Before we poke into some of the ugliest oil related conspiracies, let us analyze the strategic oil routes of our planet. Believe it or not, but these if disturbed by any means, may very well result into the breaking of  World War Three!

Countries situated at the Persian Gulf have nearly two-third of all the crude oil reserves. The Persian Gulf, also known as the Arabian Gulf, is a 600-mile-long body of water which separates Iran from the Arabian Peninsula. This is also one of the most strategic waterways in the world due to its importance in oil transportation. At its narrowest point (the Strait of Hormuz), which is the only sea passage to the petroleum exporting Persian Gulf countries, 40% of the world’s oil is supplied across the globe. United States receives about 12% of its oil, Western Europe about 25% and Japan over 66% of its oil via this route. In addition, 15% of the world's commerce is routed through Hormuz. This vital water way apart from helping Gulf counties earn a large surplus of income, also give some countries a clear vantage. Iran, for instance, responds back to U.S. deadly military threats by performing navy exercises at Hormuz. All that this critical bottle neck point requires to get chocked up, is a few ships drowned at its heart. On 29th June 2008, the commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, said that if Iran were attacked by Israel or the United States, it would seal off the Strait of Hormuz, to wreak havoc in oil markets. In response, U.S. Vice Admiral Kevin Cosgriff, warned that such an action by Iran would be considered an act of war. The conditions at this strait have gone so strained, that on 3rd July 1988, 290 people were mercilessly killed when an Iran Air Airbus A 300 passenger plan was shot down over the strait by United States Navy guided missile cruiser.  

The Strait of Malacca, another strategic oil route, is a narrow 805 km (500 miles) stretch of water between the Malay Peninsula (Peninsular Malaysia) and the Indonesian island of Sumatra and is one of the most important shipping lanes of the world. About a quarter of all oil carried by sea passes through this strait. Oil being transported from the Strait of Malacca is mainly from Persian Gulf suppliers to the Asian markets such as China, Japan, and South Korea.

In the same way, the Strait of Gibraltar, is yet another narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Spain in Europe from Morocco in Africa. 

US Dollar Vs Euro Warfare and the Role of OPEC

Under OPEC agreement, all oil has to be traded in US dollars and has been traded so since 1971 (after the dropping of the gold standard). This makes US dollar the de facto major international trading currency. Obviously, if other nations have to hoard dollars to buy oil, they may want to use that hoard for other tradings too. This actuality gives America an enormous trading advantage and helps make it the dominant economy in the world.  As an economic bloc, the European Union is the only challenger to USA's economic position, and has created 'Euro' to challenge the dollar in international markets. However, the EU is not yet united behind Euro — there is a lot of jingoistic national politics involved. EU dept crisis is making the conditions even worst — and in any case, as long as nations throughout the world  have to hoard dollars to buy oil, Euro can make very limited inroads into dollar's dominated market.

Invasion of Iraq- A Desperate Attempt to Maintain Dollar's Supremacy

In 2000, Iraq, with the world's second largest oil reserves, switched to trading its oil in Euros. At this the American analysts fell about laughing as they thought that Iraq had just made a mistake that was going to beggar its nation. But just two years later, alarm bells were sounding; the euro was rising against the dollar, Iraq had given itself a huge economic free kick by switching and consequently Iraq had to be repented for her act.

U.S. decided that an unprovoked "shock and awe" attack had to be performed. This  was to serve several economic purposes: (1) Safeguard the U.S. economy by recommissioning Iraqi oil in U.S. dollars instead of

the Euro and to try to lock the world back into dollar oil trading so that U.S. continues to be the dominant world power- both militarily and economically (2) Send a clear message to other oil producers, as to what will happen to them if they abandon the dollar matrix (3) Place the second largest oil reserves under direct U.S. control (4) Create a subject state where the U.S. can maintain a huge force to dominate the Middle East and its oil (5) Create a severe setback to the European Union and its Euro- the only trading block and currency strong enough to attack U.S. dominance through trade.

But of course, the United States had to present a valid excuse in front of the world. It availed the conditions caused by the controversial 9/11 and furthermore, its intelligence generated a report proclaiming that Saddam Hussain had weapons of mass destruction which might have been hidden under Iraq’s soil and they must have had supported Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind of 9/11 in the destruction of twin towers. So, United States invaded Iraq calling it ‘War against terrorism’, cleverly veiling its intention of  maintaining the dominion of it’s currency, worldwide. 

This was just one, among various games played by U.S. to retain dollar's Supremacy. Many countries were forcibly pushed into similar traps. Almost all of U.S 'generous' aid to the under developed world were (and still are) charted with hectic terms and conditions that have to be abided by at any cost. The major one of these conditions being  the use of dollar as a trade currency & the use of oil as a major source of energy.

Later on, when Iran too started thinking about purchasing its oil in Euros, United States called it ‘Axis of evil’ and started having a bull’s eye on her every move. Iran’s nuclear power program has given States a ray of hope to deteriorate it’s old target and for this purpose, it has been drawing world's attention to Iran’s nuclear program and has been searching for hints and stitching cock & bull stories against her. The U.S. also wants to create a new oil cartel in the Middle East and Africa, so as  to replace OPEC. For this purpose, it is now dangling the "most generous aid"  to Nigeria, in an attempt to make it withdraw from OPEC. 

Invasion of Afghanistan- A Clever Plot to Control Central Asia's Gas Traverse Route

Further on, to break up OPEC and control the world's oil supply, it is also important to control the Central Asiatic oil producing countries, specially the ones through which oil pipelines traverse. To accomplish this, the first attack and occupation was carried on in Afghanistan in October 2001. Afghanistan itself being a gas producing country, is a land through which Central Asian and the Caspian Sea oil and gas is being planned to be piped to several energy-starved countries, including India. Afghanistan also provided an alternative to previously existing Russian pipelines. Simultaneously, U.S. acquired over 19 military bases in the Central Asian countries of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan situated in the Caspian Basin; all of which are potential oil producers. After the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq, U.S. controlled the natural resources & strategic bases in both of these countries. Once again Iraq's oil began to be traded in U.S. dollars. 

Hence conclusively, Euro or any other currency will only be able to win over dollar, if the OPEC countries unanimously switch from dollar.

Role of Petroleum Cartel

This is the very petroleum cartel that is also hindering the growth of other resources of energy. With the advent of alternative energy resource era U.S. dollar suffer, and so will the private oil business enterprise.

For example Pakistan, often termed as a ‘energy-starved country’, has been gifted with the 5th largest coal reserves in the world. These reserves of coal worth US $25 trillion which can not only fulfill the electricity requirements of the country for the next 100 years, but can also save almost four billion dollars in staggering oil import bill. Pakistan receives 1220 billion Rupees from its taxation system, while this project requires only a 420 Billion Rupees worth of initial investment, which can help Pakistan attain self-sufficiency in energy.

Chinese and other companies have not only carried out surveys and feasibilities of this project, but have also been offering 100 percent investment in last 7 to 8 years. The “Petroleum Companies Cartel” in Pakistan has acquired a very strong position and has always discouraged the use of any other resources of energy other than oil (except for imported oil) in a very systematic way. This lobby is a major beneficiary of increasing oil bill, which has exceeded limit of 15 billion dollar!

Final Word

The lust for finding new reserves of oil and the bloody coups to conquer the already existing ones, has led this fuel's importance to reach the achiest position. It is the only substance in the world via which any super power’s sustainability and dominance can be challenged. The Euro Vs Dollar warfare, knocking out the gold from the queue, disturbance in oil prices worldwide and the deadly conflicts among countries for oil shows up how oil has always been a part of the blood, bread and butter of the world and how it has become a cause of several ugliest controversies. 

                                                                                         

                                                                                   WRITTEN BY: MUHAMMAD SAAD IQBAL.

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