Going where the oil is
By Fester:
Libby notes the formation of the US Fourth Fleet as an oddity. The 4th Fleet is responsible for the South Atlantic and South American stations. In and of itself the fleet is not particularly large with significant routine forces. Instead it is primarily a planning and training headquarters with units routinely rotating through South American ports of call before rotating out to either the East Atlantic, the Mediterranean or into CentCom's Area of Operations. However I just want to highlight a few things concerning long range, deployable naval power:
Jimmy Carter January 23, 1980:
Let our position be absolutely clear: An attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America, and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military force.
During the past 3 years, you have joined with me to improve our own security and the prospects for peace, not only in the vital oil-producing area of the Persian Gulf region but around the world. We've increased annually our real commitment for defense, and we will sustain this increase of effort throughout the Five Year Defense Program. It's imperative that Congress approve this strong defense budget for 1981, encompassing a 5-percent real growth in authorizations, without any reduction.
We are also improving our capability to deploy U.S. military forces rapidly to distant areas. We've helped to strengthen NATO and our other alliances, and recently we and other NATO members have decided to develop and to deploy modernized, intermediate-range nuclear forces to meet an unwarranted and increased threat from the nuclear weapons of the Soviet Union.
The U.S. military is stepping up operations in the Gulf of Guinea to enhance security in this strategic and resource-rich region, the commander of U.S. European Command's naval surface combatant warships told the Pentagon Channel....
Maritime security is critical for the region to benefit from its natural resources and prosper economically, he said. Africa provides almost 15 percent of the United States' oil supply, much of which comes from the Gulf of Guinea. In addition, the region is rich in timber, iron ore, copper and other resources.
"Our goal is to ensure a more stable maritime environment to ensure their ability to get those resources to market," Rowden said.
Britain and Nigeria will be seeking ways to tackle one of the fastest growing criminal rackets in the world, the industrial-scale theft of Nigerian crude oil, when Gordon Brown, Britain’s prime minister, hosts the Nigerian president, Umaru Yar’Adua, in London on Wednesday.
Mr Brown has offered Britain’s help in cracking down on an insurrection in the oil-producing Niger Delta region, where theft and sabotage has shut in about a quarter of Africa’s leading oil producer’s output and contributed to soaring world energy prices.
talk of Brazil joining OPEC may be premature since the country faces big obstacles before becoming a major oil exporter. It currently uses about as much oil as it produces.
Still, the new discoveries could turn the country into an export powerhouse. The Tupi oil field off the country's central coast is thought to contain 5 to 8 billion barrels of oil and gas, and would boost the country's total reserves by about 50%.
And Brazilian officials have said other offshore fields could ultimately leave the country with 80 to 100 billion barrels of proven reserves, one of the largest in the world.
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