A flaming lake of fire. The rays of sun can no longer find their way to the earth, day becomes night, the air a poisonous cloud.
This was 13 years ago. Saddam Hussein burned the oil fields of Kuwait, to stop the advancing US army from taking them. The environmental and economic results were catastrophic.
Oil isnt called Black Gold for nothing. The entire world economy is totally dependent on it and for countries that drill it, it provides a billion-dollar income. Two thirds of the world's deposits lie in the region around the Persian Gulf.
As the filling station of the world, Saudi Arabia has oil reserves totalling 260 billion barrels or just under 5 trillion litres.
Close behind in second place is Iraq. 113 billion barrels have already been found here, but experts believe there are at least 250 billion barrels flowing underneath the sands
Oil from the Kirkuk oilfields of Kurdistan is of high quality, and is easily drilled as it sits not far beneath the surface.
With just over 100 billion barrels each, the UAE, Kuwait and Iran.
The size of the Gulf reserves is seen with a comparison to Russia, which can rely on totals estimated at around 50 billion barrels.
Experts believe the total is probably four time this.
At the beginning of the seventies the OPEC countries used oil as political weapon to voice their support for the Palestinians. The restriction of fuel was felt across Europe. In Austria there were traffic jams and drivers had to leave their car at home one day a week. Energy-saving suddenly became the priority schools introduced energy holidays, never abolished, despite their disputed use.
For months now the American warhorse has marched on towards Iraq. A war now seems inevitable, with massive implications for the worlds oil market.
Suppliers and consumers are nervous, say PVM, Austrian oil brokers. In America, the crisis in Venezuela has particular potential for disaster.
JOHANNES BENIGNI (PVM Energy Group): Venezuela is a supplier of the US market offering a very short time of delivery. Hence, for the American consumer it is very important to have this flexibility and very convenient to profit from the possibility of short-term oil supply. It is clear that the situation would get worse if Iraq was unable to supply oil. No doubt about that. For the moment being this is not the case. However, if both suppliers fail to deliver oil, i.e. two million barrelS each, the oil surplus currently available on the market will be consumed. The present surplus is estimated at 3 million barrel.
In Venezuela the past ** months protests and strikes have paralysed oil exploration. They demand the resignation of the left-wing oriented president Hugo Chavez. The US, too, campaign openly for a regime change, and the CIA even sponsored a coup last year. Chavez vociferously opposed the US war in Afghanistan and is a known friend of Saddam Hussein. Venezuela is the fifth-largest oil producer in the world and the secondary oil supplier to the USA.
America has an even closer eye on the Worlds leading oil producer, Saudi Arabia, and not only because king Fahd is old and ill. The ruling family has historically been a key ally of the USA.
Bushs father came here a decade ago, when US troops used Saudi as a launch pad during the First Gulf War. At that time the Saudis were afraid of Saddams expansionism. But twelve years of occupancy by US soldiers have supercharged anti-American feeling here. The US remains convinced Saudi is a hotbed of Islamic terrorists, and is exasperated by the half-hearted effort the Royal Family is putting in to fighting terrorism.
Oil interests would be severely threatened if, following another Gulf War, Islamists rose up and created an Iranian style Islamic Government.
The USA is urgently looking for new oil suppliers as an alternative. Discussions have been held with Russia and Canada, and, despite the anguished cry of environmentalists, is also looking to drill in the arctic wildernesses of Alaska.
Oil is far too sensitve an issue in the Gulf. Whoever controls it can wield inordinate influence across the world. Former CIA boss Woolsey famously stated, "we have to take the weapon of oil away from the Arabs!"
But what consequences a path of war? Will we be faced once again with traffic jams, price hikes for heating and gasoline, and, ultimately, a recession?
JOHANNES BENIGNI: It will depend on how the war evolves, whether the war will get out of control, whether other countries will be involved. Whether you have the impression that this is a conflict locally restricted to Iraq and that
prices will fall quickly or whether there are other areas of conflict like Venezuela, for instance. If there are no other areas of conflict like Venezuela, for example, the oil price is not expected to rise extremely. In the beginning, due to the high unstableness, the price will come down very
quickly. However, if there is a widespread crises, hence not enough oil surplus, the oil price may remain at a higher level for some time. The price may be 40 US Dollars but it could be any price. However, on the basis of the basic facts we may assume that it is not justifiable that our prices
will remain very high for a very long time.
A lot hangs on inscrutable dictator Saddam Hussein. Will he make true his threats and defend to the gates of Baghdad? More worrying, will he use the chemical weapons Washington is so convinced he has piled up?
Will the sun once again shine like the moon?
This was 13 years ago. Saddam Hussein burned the oil fields of Kuwait, to stop the advancing US army from taking them. The environmental and economic results were catastrophic.
Oil isnt called Black Gold for nothing. The entire world economy is totally dependent on it and for countries that drill it, it provides a billion-dollar income. Two thirds of the world's deposits lie in the region around the Persian Gulf.
As the filling station of the world, Saudi Arabia has oil reserves totalling 260 billion barrels or just under 5 trillion litres.
Close behind in second place is Iraq. 113 billion barrels have already been found here, but experts believe there are at least 250 billion barrels flowing underneath the sands
Oil from the Kirkuk oilfields of Kurdistan is of high quality, and is easily drilled as it sits not far beneath the surface.
With just over 100 billion barrels each, the UAE, Kuwait and Iran.
The size of the Gulf reserves is seen with a comparison to Russia, which can rely on totals estimated at around 50 billion barrels.
Experts believe the total is probably four time this.
At the beginning of the seventies the OPEC countries used oil as political weapon to voice their support for the Palestinians. The restriction of fuel was felt across Europe. In Austria there were traffic jams and drivers had to leave their car at home one day a week. Energy-saving suddenly became the priority schools introduced energy holidays, never abolished, despite their disputed use.
For months now the American warhorse has marched on towards Iraq. A war now seems inevitable, with massive implications for the worlds oil market.
Suppliers and consumers are nervous, say PVM, Austrian oil brokers. In America, the crisis in Venezuela has particular potential for disaster.
JOHANNES BENIGNI (PVM Energy Group): Venezuela is a supplier of the US market offering a very short time of delivery. Hence, for the American consumer it is very important to have this flexibility and very convenient to profit from the possibility of short-term oil supply. It is clear that the situation would get worse if Iraq was unable to supply oil. No doubt about that. For the moment being this is not the case. However, if both suppliers fail to deliver oil, i.e. two million barrelS each, the oil surplus currently available on the market will be consumed. The present surplus is estimated at 3 million barrel.
In Venezuela the past ** months protests and strikes have paralysed oil exploration. They demand the resignation of the left-wing oriented president Hugo Chavez. The US, too, campaign openly for a regime change, and the CIA even sponsored a coup last year. Chavez vociferously opposed the US war in Afghanistan and is a known friend of Saddam Hussein. Venezuela is the fifth-largest oil producer in the world and the secondary oil supplier to the USA.
America has an even closer eye on the Worlds leading oil producer, Saudi Arabia, and not only because king Fahd is old and ill. The ruling family has historically been a key ally of the USA.
Bushs father came here a decade ago, when US troops used Saudi as a launch pad during the First Gulf War. At that time the Saudis were afraid of Saddams expansionism. But twelve years of occupancy by US soldiers have supercharged anti-American feeling here. The US remains convinced Saudi is a hotbed of Islamic terrorists, and is exasperated by the half-hearted effort the Royal Family is putting in to fighting terrorism.
Oil interests would be severely threatened if, following another Gulf War, Islamists rose up and created an Iranian style Islamic Government.
The USA is urgently looking for new oil suppliers as an alternative. Discussions have been held with Russia and Canada, and, despite the anguished cry of environmentalists, is also looking to drill in the arctic wildernesses of Alaska.
Oil is far too sensitve an issue in the Gulf. Whoever controls it can wield inordinate influence across the world. Former CIA boss Woolsey famously stated, "we have to take the weapon of oil away from the Arabs!"
But what consequences a path of war? Will we be faced once again with traffic jams, price hikes for heating and gasoline, and, ultimately, a recession?
JOHANNES BENIGNI: It will depend on how the war evolves, whether the war will get out of control, whether other countries will be involved. Whether you have the impression that this is a conflict locally restricted to Iraq and that
prices will fall quickly or whether there are other areas of conflict like Venezuela, for instance. If there are no other areas of conflict like Venezuela, for example, the oil price is not expected to rise extremely. In the beginning, due to the high unstableness, the price will come down very
quickly. However, if there is a widespread crises, hence not enough oil surplus, the oil price may remain at a higher level for some time. The price may be 40 US Dollars but it could be any price. However, on the basis of the basic facts we may assume that it is not justifiable that our prices
will remain very high for a very long time.
A lot hangs on inscrutable dictator Saddam Hussein. Will he make true his threats and defend to the gates of Baghdad? More worrying, will he use the chemical weapons Washington is so convinced he has piled up?
Will the sun once again shine like the moon?