Iraq: June 14, 2001

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Relations between Saudi Arabia and Iraq just got much worse. Saudi Arabia announced that it is seizing a $2.2 billion Iraqi pipeline that runs through Saudi Arabia to the Red Sea. The facility, including pumping stations and storage tanks, can carry 1.6 million barrels of oil a day. It was finished in 1989 and only used for a year. It was closed and sealed after Iraq invaded Kuwait during the Summer of 1990. For the last ten years, Saudi Arabia has sought ways to free Iraq of the sanctions, but Iraq has responded by constantly castigating Saudi Arabia for allowing American troops to use its territory. The recent Iraqi border attacks were apparently an abuse too far. Iraq has protested the seizure of its oil pipeline, which the Saudis are considering converting to carry natural gas. A Saudi oil pipeline already runs parallel to the Iraqi pipeline.