Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04KUWAIT69
2004-01-07 07:06:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Kuwait
Cable title:  

HUMANITARIAN FUEL CONVOYS IN SOUTHERN IRAQ: THE

Tags:  ETRD EAID MOPS PREL PGOV IZ IR KU 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 KUWAIT 000069 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/NGA
NSC FOR THEROUX

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2013
TAGS: ETRD EAID MOPS PREL PGOV IZ IR KU
SUBJECT: HUMANITARIAN FUEL CONVOYS IN SOUTHERN IRAQ: THE
VIEW FROM KUWAIT

REF: A. KUWAIT 5630

B. KUWAIT 5539

Classified By: CDA Frank Urbancic for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 KUWAIT 000069

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/NGA
NSC FOR THEROUX

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2013
TAGS: ETRD EAID MOPS PREL PGOV IZ IR KU
SUBJECT: HUMANITARIAN FUEL CONVOYS IN SOUTHERN IRAQ: THE
VIEW FROM KUWAIT

REF: A. KUWAIT 5630

B. KUWAIT 5539

Classified By: CDA Frank Urbancic for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary. A survey of the provision of gasoline and
kerosene to southern Iraq under the humanitarian fuel program
showed bottlenecks inside Iraq that are slowing truck convoys
coming from Kuwait. The downloading depots at Diwaniyah and
Latifiyah lack adequate pumps to download fuel from trucks,
and Latifiyah is hindered by an intermittent electricity
supply. Convoy movements are also slowed by shortages of
escorts, and delays as convoys are handed off from one escort
unit to another. Several officers pointed to inadequate
coordination and communication between the Ministry of Oil,
Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR)/Task Force Restore Iraqi Oil
(RIO),Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA),the
multinational force, and US Army units. On a related issue,
Iraqi Ministry of Oil officials said at a December 28 meeting
that they are negotiating with Iran for the importation of
kerosene. End Summary.


2. (C) In coordination with CPA, Kuwait econoff traveled
overland through southern Iraq December 18 - 20 to canvass
procedures for moving and downloading truck convoys providing
humanitarian fuel to meet shortages in Iraq. These convoys
originate in Kuwait (Reftels) and carry gasoline and kerosene
to various downloading depots south of Baghdad. Escorts are
provided by US and multinational forces, beginning and ending
at the Navistar staging area just south of the Kuwait - Iraq
border.

MPs Stretched Thin
--------------

Cedar
--------------


3. (C) Cedar is a logistical base located near the town of
Nasiriyah. We spoke with US Army traffic control officers,
who confirmed that movement of military and civilian fuel is
the top priority of their units. Cedar is a point where
military police (MP) units hand-off convoys; generally
speaking, Cedar - based MPs handle convoys to-from Navistar,

while Scania-based MPs (see below) handle the Cedar - Scania
run. Due to a shortage of MPs, this situation sometimes
results in convoys having to hold for hours or to overnight
at Cedar, despite having driven only a few hours north from
Navistar. These circumstances are currently aggravated by
limited daylight in the winter months, as the convoys do not
move at night; northbound convoys are departing only between
0500 and 1400. (Note- In comparison, TF-RIO officials told us
the humanitarian fuel convoys crossing the Turkey - Iraq
border are generally escorted by the Army only as far as
"Foxtrot", a staging area near Mosul roughly three hours from
the border. These convoys sometimes number in the hundreds of
trucks. From there, unescorted convoys and individual trucks
are dispatched to depots and gas stations throughout northern
Iraq. End Note.)

Scania
--------------


4. (C) We spoke with US Army officers at the Scania base,
roughly 25 miles northeast of Diwaniyah. Convoys overnight
and refuel at this base, and are escorted onward to depots or
south to Cedar. Officers who are involved daily with the
humanitarian fuel program said the long turn-around time for
convoys is largely due to the limited capacity of the
downloading points. This situation is made more difficult by
the lack of MPs (MPs at Scania were tasked to escort 669
vehicles on December 19, a typical day).


5. (C) They told us the Latifiyah depot is generally open
only from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and runs particularly
slowly on Thursdays and Fridays (the local "weekend"). They
said the speed of downloading is variable, depending on the
number of pumps running - on December 17, only one
downloading point was operational. As at Cedar, convoys are
hindered by short winter days - convoys will not move north
later than 1400. Spanish units are responsible for the escort
of convoys from Scania to Diwaniyah. On December 19, 75 full
trucks had already waited two days at Scania for Spanish
escort; officers told us this was not unusual.

6. (C) The Army officers suggested using other downloading
points to reduce waiting times, mentioning An Najaf in
particular. They also suggested approaching the Spaniards to
provide escorts for convoys directly from Cedar to Diwaniyah
(roughly a four-hour trip),which could make a 1-day Navistar
to Diwaniyah run possible. The MPs said the assignment of a
civil affairs officer for liaison between them and the
Ministry of Oil and KBR/RIO would increase the efficiency of
their operations.


Depots Struggle to Handle Convoys
--------------

Latifiyah:
--------------


7. (C) The majority of fuel from Kuwait is downloaded at one
of two depots: Latifiyah or Diwaniyah. The depot at Latifiyah
provides fuel to the Baghdad area, and is located roughly 15
miles south of Baghdad International Airport and two hours
north of Scania. Mr. Hussein Thabt, acting manager of
Latifiyah when we visited, told us an undependable
electricity supply is his biggest problem. Although the plant
has its own backup generator for when grid power goes down,
the number of pumps downloading fuel is subsequently reduced.
Pump maintenance is also a problem. On December 19 the fuel
depot had 94 trucks of gasoline and 46 trucks of kerosene
waiting to download (most carrying 32,000 liters). These
trucks had left Kuwait on December 14 and 15. Drivers told us
they sometimes wait four days to download at Latifiyah.


8. (C) Thabt told us the depot has a total of 6 pumps for
gasoline and 2 pumps for kerosene, but these can run
simultaneously only if grid power is available (the morning
of December 19, only 3 gasoline pumps and 1 kerosene pump
appeared to be running). In general, it takes one hour to
download a truck. Thabt said the maximum the depot could
handle is roughly 100 trucks/day. On December 18, during what
Thabt described as a typical day with full electricity, 44
trucks carrying 1,300,000 liters of gasoline and 27 trucks
carrying 788,000 liters of kerosene were downloaded.


9. (C) The shortage of escorts also creates a backlog of
empty convoys. On December 19, four convoys totaling 92
trucks were on the grounds, waiting to be escorted back to
Scania (and then south to Kuwait). These trucks had departed
Kuwait on December 12, 13 and 14; drivers told us they had
been waiting between one and three days to depart.


10. (C) Given their flammable cargo, holding large numbers
of trucks in close proximity to each other presents an
inviting target for attack. Thabt told us the truck holding
area was attacked with RPGs and mortars 3 weeks prior to our
visit, but without significant damage.

Diwaniyah:
--------------


11. (C) The download depot at Diwaniyah provides fuel for the
surrounding provinces. The acting manager there on Dec. 19
told us the biggest problems are under-capacity pumps that
break down often and require constant maintenance. A KBR
representative agreed, adding that the lack of parking space
for trucks hinders operations. He expressed concern over
weak security around the depot. The manager said this
facility has 4 download points for benzene and 5 for
kerosene, allowing for the downloading of 9 trucks/hour.
Unlike the depot at Latifiyah, this compound has a generator
capable of providing sufficient electricity when the grid
power is down.


12. (C) During our December 19 visit, the kerosene convoy
being downloaded had departed Navistar the morning of
December 16. Drivers told us on some trips they must wait up
to three days to download their cargo at Diwaniyah. Also on
the grounds were two empty convoys waiting on Spanish troops
to provide escorts to Scania, roughly 25 miles away. These
convoys had departed Kuwait on December 15, and their drivers
told us they had already waited two days for escorts to
arrive. The drivers told us convoys downloading at Diwaniyah
generally return to Scania and remain overnight, or fill
their tanks and move south to Cedar. They said if convoys
could refuel at the Diwaniyah depot, then head directly
south, they could avoid a 50-mile detour through Scania.


13. (C) As at Latifiyah, trucks are parked close together,
presenting an exposed target. Although we were told a new
parking lot is under construction, parking space remains very
limited -- on the afternoon of December 20, two convoys
waiting to download were staged on the highway outside of the
depot, with another convoy ten miles to the south. In a
snapshot of the distribution difficulties to be overcome, the
gas station directly in front of the depot had more than one
hundred cars in line waiting to get gasoline, while across
the highway gasoline was being sold out of 55-gallon drums
and jerry cans. These lines and the bootleg vendors were
evident in many places, particularly on the road between
Hilla and Samawah.

Multinational Force Involvement
--------------


14. (C) We spoke December 20 with civil affairs officers at
the Multinational Forces HQ in Hilla. These officers are
responsible for, among other things, the humanitarian fuel
program in the five surrounding provinces, including the
towns of Hilla, An Najaf, Karbala and Al Kut. Multinational
forces are also escorting fuel convoys every other day from a
refinery in Basra. A round-trip, they say, takes from 3 to 4
days.


15. (C) The officers said a better overall view of the
distribution plan for civilian fuel would help them in
achieving their mission. They also noted the need for more
coordination among coalition forces, to include the CPA. One
specific recommendation was to assign an officer to CPA
regional headquarters in Hilla to help coordinate the fuel
program. The officers also noted that the distribution of
fuel from depots to retail stations (generally handled by the
Ministry of Oil) lacks overall planning, and suffers from a
lack of communication between district offices. They said,
however, that the Poles are pressing Iraqi officials to
better coordinate fuel distribution. This effort is made
more administratively difficult since existing Iraqi fuel
distribution districts do not correspond to coalition
military districts geographically.


16. (SBU) The civil affairs officers believe the depot at Al
Kut could download one convoy a day of either kerosene or
benzene, and said that Karbala and An Najaf also have depots
capable of downloading trucks. They suggested that
Hilla-based soldiers should pick up convoys in Scania and
move them out to these depots. They noted Hilla has a
facility to download diesel and kerosene from railroad
tankers, but so far has received only one delivery via rail.
On a more positive note, the officers said they thought
renewed rioting over fuel shortages was unlikely in the five
provinces under their responsibility.

Iran a Player?
--------------


17. (SBU) During a December 28 meeting attended by Kuwait
econoff in Baghdad between CPA, TF-RIO and the Ministry of
Oil, ministry officials charged with fuel distribution
mentioned they are nearing completion of an agreement to
bring an initial shipment of fifty trucks of kerosene from
Iran, and are exploring options to import Iranian LPG. The
officials said the "Iraqi transportation union" is
negotiating with the Iranians to allow Iraqi trucks to travel
to Iran to transport fuel.


18. (U) TF-RIO personnel are actively engaged in meeting the
challenges described above. During a late December visit to
their offices in Baghdad, TF-RIO officers, in conjunction
with CJTF-7 officers and CPA-Oil personnel, told us they have
been focusing on improving fuel import performance from
Turkey, Jordan and Kuwait. They noted that Kuwaiti imports
for the last week of December verses the first week of
December increased from 59% to 88% of the weekly benzene
goal and from 71% to 98% of the weekly kerosene goal, and
that performance has improved by 30% overall for the month.
They have also focused on electric power grid and generator
problems at Latifyiah and the Rusafa fuel distribution depot
(near Baghdad). Recently, grid power has been restored to the
Rusafa Depot, two inoperative generators have been turned
into one operational generator and TF RIO has arranged for
the 249th EN BN to conduct a detailed technical inspection
and assessment of all generators at the Latifiya and Rusafa
Depots. To improve the efficiency of convoy escorts, they are
working to provide close coordination among US Army units, TF
RIO, CJTF7, KBR, Al Tanmia, CPA-Oil, and the Iraqi Ministry
of Oil.

Comment
--------------

19. (SBU) Significant amounts of fuel are being delivered
from Kuwait for civilian use into southern Iraq, under
difficult circumstances, into an aging system that was
designed around pipelines instead of truck convoys.
Nevertheless, our interlocutors said more fuel could be
delivered more efficiently. Among the people we spoke with
there is a consensus that the biggest bottleneck restricting
the humanitarian fuel program is insufficient downloading
capacity. There was also consensus, particularly among
military units and truck drivers, that there are insufficient
security escorts assigned to this high priority operation.
This is exacerbated by "seams" between units, both within the
US Army and among multinational forces. According to our
contacts, the hardest piece in getting additional
humanitarian fuel supplies into Iraq is increased
communications and coordination among the many players on the
scene.


20. (U) Baghdad minimize considered.
URBANCIC