USG CEIP TEAM DISCUSSES JOINT WORKING GROUP AND

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 000921 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS STATE FOR S/CT, DS/ATA, PM, NEA/ARP; ENERGY FOR KOLEVAR; NSC FOR ANDERSON; EEB FOR GRIFFIN E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/12/2022 TAGS: ASEC EPET KCIP KU PTER SUBJECT: USG CEIP TEAM DISCUSSES JOINT WORKING GROUP AND IMPLEMENTATION WITH GOK REF: A. KUWAIT 873 ¶B. KUWAIT 790 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Tim Lenderking for Reason s 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (S/NF) Summary and Comment: A USG Critical Energy Infrastructure Protection (CEIP) team visited Kuwait on 12-13 June to review recommendations from the two previous CEIP assessments this year, conduct a follow-up maritime assessment, and discuss the formation of a USG-GOK Joint Working Group (JWG). The Kuwaitis have already taken action on many of the USG recommendations and have created a detailed plan of action to implement CEIP upgrades. There was clear buy-in among the various Kuwaiti agencies involved in CEIP for further cooperation with the USG, and coordination among the Kuwaiti agencies has improved noticeably. Kuwaiti representatives from both the Government and the state-owned oil companies expressed strong support for the establishment of a JWG, in principle, but the terms and composition still need to be determined, and the GOK needs to identify a Kuwaiti signatory. Post will follow up with Kuwaiti officials on the JWG. CEIP Team Leader Averill cleared this message. End Summary and Comment. ¶2. (S/NF) A USG Critical Energy Infrastructure Protection team visited Kuwait on 12-13 June to discuss implementation of recommendations from CEIP assessments conducted in February and March (Ref B). The team was composed of Dr. Bruce Averill (S/CT),Kevin Maloy (DS/ATA),Capt. Don Grant (USCG),and Byron Gardner (DOE/Sandia),along with A/DCM and Econoff from Embassy Kuwait. The two-day program consisted of a follow-up tour of maritime security around seaside and offshore petroleum export facilities with the Kuwait Coast Guard and oil company officials; two working-level meetings with oil company managers and GOK officials to answer questions and to elaborate on points from the previous assessments; and a higher-level meeting with senior representatives from each of the Kuwaiti agencies involved in CEIP to discuss policy, GOK inter-agency coordination, capacity building, and opportunities for further USG-GOK cooperation. The senior Kuwaiti participant was Hussain Ismail, Deputy Managing Director of KNPC. -------------- 
Improved Coordination, Upgrades Underway -------------- ¶3. (S/NF) The 13 June meeting on policy and coordination was attended by representatives from SDFC, KNPC, MOI, KCG, Kuwait Oil Company (KOC),Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC),and the National Security Bureau (NSB). Many of the individuals present had participated in the previous assessments, providing important continuity. Recognizing that developing Kuwaiti inter-agency coordination will be one of the most critical and most challenging tasks going forward, representatives of all the Kuwaiti agencies involved were supportive of USG recommendations to establish both a Kuwaiti Joint Coordination Committee and a Kuwaiti Joint Operations Center. Currently the only formal mechanism for CEIP coordination across Kuwaiti entities is the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation's Higher Security Committee which includes KNPC, OSSCo, KOC, Kuwait Gulf Oil Company (KGOC),and Petrochemicals Industry Company (PIC). To facilitate and standardize Kuwaiti inter-agency coordination on CEIP, KNPC intends to negotiate contractual agreements with the KCG and MOI that spell out relevant performance metrics. The KNPC and SDFC representatives remarked that visits by USG CEIP teams had helped to create both the forum and the ministerial-level pressure necessary for the various Kuwaiti agencies to coordinate more closely on CEIP. They said they hoped that continuing visits and engagement by the USG would help to "maintain the pressure." ¶4. (S/NF) During the meeting, the Kuwaitis presented an "action matrix" developed by the Security Decision Follow-up Committee (SDFC),OSSCo, Kuwait Coast Guard (KCG),and Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC),which categorized each of the USG recommendations (procedure, hardware or training), noted the status of implementation, assigned responsibility to a specific agency, and indicated an expected completion date. The Kuwaitis pointed out that 15% of the recommendations have already been implemented. Completed actions included camera installations, communications enhancements, and extension of perimeter fencing. Several basic barrier upgrades on the land side of the refineries KUWAIT 00000921 002 OF 002 still need to be made, however. ¶5. (S/NF) The SDFC outlined plans to complete a seaside fence and establish a private Coastal Protection Force (CPF) to enhance maritime security. The CPF, which is to be comprised of 50 Kuwaitis and 160 third-country nationals with armed forces experience, will patrol limited marine security zones around critical assets in 27-ft boats. Each patrol boat will have one lightly armed soldier from the Ministry of Interior (MOI) authorized to use deadly force, if necessary. Eventually, SDFC and OSSCo intend to seek authorization from the Cabinet for both marine and landside private security personnel to be armed. The CPF, which is projected to be in place by 2008, is intended to complement and work closely with the KCG, which will retain responsibility for "deepwater" surveillance, patrolling, and interdiction. -------------- Eager to Form Joint Working Group with USG -------------- ¶6. (S/NF) The USG team presented the Kuwaitis with a draft concept paper outlining the prospective goals, composition, and functions of a USG-GOK Joint Working Group (JWG),modeled on our JWG with Saudi Arabia. They explained that the establishment of a JWG would enable more robust and regular bilateral cooperation and information sharing on CEIP. (Note: The proposal to establish a JWG was agreed to in principle during the Gulf Security Dialogue meeting held in Kuwait on 22 May. See Ref A.) The SDFC, KNPC, MOI, and KOC representatives all expressed strong support for the JWG concept, although they were unsure who from the GOK should act as signatory to such an agreement (comment: the Kuwaiti representatives were also not empowered to approve the JWG at their level). KNPC, KOC, and SDFC said they were eager to take advantage of the opportunities the JWG would offer in terms of sharing technical information, testing and evaluating different security products, and importing techniques and processes to design and manage a comprehensive security regime. KNPC Deputy Managing Director Hussain Ismail said he would forward the draft JWG concept paper to Shaykh Thamer Al-Ali, Deputy Director of the NSB, for review. Post will follow up with both the NSB and General Mohammed Al-Bader of the SDFC to encourage the signing of an MOU to create the JWG. ********************************************* * For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s Visit Kuwait's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ ********************************************* * LeBaron