At Iraqi Oil Plant, Bitterness, Idleness

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62802-2003Apr30.html

At Iraqi Oil Plant, Bitterness, Idleness

Thursday, May 1, 2003; Page A01

ZUBAYR, Iraq, April 30 --

"...The oil workers stood listlessly in front of the plant, hair blown brittle by a dusty wind, as they shared cigarettes and bitterness for lack of anything else to do. They complained about the looting that has left them without a chair to sit on, let alone a tool to wield. They worried about whether the state oil company can continue to pay them. They wondered when crude might again flow thick through their oil-gas separation plant, bound for the refinery up the road in Basra.

Then, a sparkling GMC Yukon with Kuwait license plates pulled up to the gate. Out stepped a round-faced American in blue jeans and a khaki baseball cap engraved with the letters "KBR," the name of the Halliburton Co. subsidiary assisting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with the reconstruction of southern Iraq's sprawling and prodigious oil facilities. The KBR technician, Jim Humphries, breezed past the gathering with a perfunctory nod and entered the plant. Minutes later he headed back to his car, refusing a request for a report on what he saw inside.

For many in the crowd, it was more than they could bear. They were already seething at the damage from the widespread looting that accompanied the end of the fighting. Many were frustrated that the United States has yet to put in place a functioning oil ministry, leaving managers at the giant Southern Oil Co. without the authority to buy new tools, vehicles and machinery. Now, here was another indignity, a moment that typified what many here increasingly see as the imperious manner and overly casual work ethic of the victorious forces overseeing the revival of the oil industry in this war-torn country -- a country that holds the world's second-largest reserves of oil.

"You should cooperate," scolded Mohammed Mohee, an instrument technician, speaking in Arabic, as Humphries shrugged, backed away, then got in his car and drove off. "KBR just comes and gives orders, but they don't do anything," Mohammed continued. "They don't give us anything to work with. This is our oil. This is our city, our company. Our country. We want to clear away the damage and move forward. We have no tools, no instruments. No spare parts. They do nothing. They just look and leave."

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