JAH
02-14-2007, 06:07 PM
Oil makes Alberta a target
Canada's role as No. 1 petroleum exporter to the U.S. has attracted attention from al-Qaida terrorists
Ian MacLeod, Ottawa Citizen; CanWest News Service; with files from the Edmonton Journal, Calgary Herald
Published: Wednesday, February 14, 2007
OTTAWA - Al-Qaida has called for terrorist strikes against Canadian oil and natural gas facilities to "choke the U.S. economy."
An online message, posted Thursday by the al-Qaida Organization in the Arabian Peninsula, declares "we should strike petroleum interests in all areas which supply the United States ... like Canada," the No. 1 exporter of oil and gas to the United States.
"The biggest party hurt will be the industrial nations, and on top of them, the United States."
Pipelines, like this one in Alaska, were identified as targets last year.
The Associated Press, file
Font: ****The same group, the Saudi arm of Osama bin Laden's terrorist network, claimed responsibility for last February's attack on the world's largest oil processing facility at Abqaiq in Saudi Arabia's eastern province.
The attack was foiled when guards at the site opened fire on the terrorists, blowing up their vehicles filled with explosives before they could get through the gates.
The message is contained in Sawt al-Jihad (Voice of Jihad), the group's online magazine.
A feature article, entitled Bin Laden's Oil Weapon, encourages operatives to continue to follow earlier directives from bin Laden to strike oil targets not only in Saudi Arabia, but elsewhere, according to a translation by the SITE Institute, a non-profit U.S. group that monitors terrorist websites.
Three western countries are mentioned in the call-to-arms -- Canada first, followed by Mexico and Venezuela. Would-be attackers are instructed to specifically target oilfields, pipelines, loading platforms and carriers.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service said Tuesday it was aware of the posting, as is Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada.
"Do we think it's a serious threat? I can't get into that," said CSIS spokeswoman Barbara Campion.
Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach said his province is working closely with "the federal government and the American government ... to have the most modern tracking system in terms of threat and, of course, monitoring and also surveillance of all the critical infrastructure in Alberta when it comes to oil and gas.
"I didn't know that Osama bin Laden knows where I am, but infrastructure is critical and that's where we'll be protecting it," Stelmach added.
Greg Stringham, vice-president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, said the threat is similar to a posting made about a year ago, when an al-Qaida-affiliated Internet blog called on Canadian and U.S. jihadists to attack an Alaskan oil pipeline.
The new posting is "not singling out Canada, it specifically mentions Canada, but along with some other countries that are suppliers to the U.S.," he said.
"It's not the first time that it's happened and we have no credible threat to substantiate it ... but still we are taking it seriously and we've informed all of our members and contacts about that -- especially those with critical infrastructure -- to pay extra attention and be vigilant."
The Alberta Energy and Utilities Board knew about the threat the day it appeared online thanks to information from Canadian intelligence agencies, said spokesman Darin Barter.
"We're aware of this," he said Tuesday, adding the warning wasn't significant enough to warrant raising the threat level. "There was no evidence that pointed to any imminent or direct threat to Alberta infrastructure."
Alberta sites deemed "critical infrastructure" are forced to have plans guarding against a terrorist attack.
The EUB is responsible for ensuring the protection of Alberta's critical energy infrastructure.
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Font: ****Barter wouldn't list specific sites, though they include an oilsands mine, electrical transmission lines, a pipeline, petrochemical plant, refinery, and facilities for processing gas or oilsands products and generating electricity.
The Alberta Security and Strategic Intelligence Support Team also decided "the threat level is low," said Andy Weiler, a spokesman for Fred Lindsay, Alberta solicitor general and minister of public security. Lindsay was not involved in that decision.
"There was nothing in this information that specifically identified any Alberta oil facility," Weiler said. "It was not necessary to bring the minister in."
Barter would not say what could push the threat level to higher preparedness but said "just one posting" would be unlikely to do it.
"We are part of Alberta's Counter-Terrorism Crisis Management Plan, he said. "We look at information provided to us 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. It does not start or stop at one threat."
Experts have long considered the U.S. dependence on foreign oil -- and al-Qaida's evolving strategy to attempt to deny the U.S. access to its major oil suppliers -- as the country's Achilles heel.
A major supply disruption would send energy prices soaring. Had the Abqaiq attack been successful, some experts say oil prices would have likely broken all records. A catastrophic hit could bring transportation and other parts of the U.S. and other world economies to a standstill.
"We should strike petroleum interests in all areas which supply the United States, and not only in the Middle East, because the target is to stop its imports or decrease it by all means," says the article.
"We should not be overly concerned at this exact moment. Al-Qaida as an organization has been severely weakened," said Tom Quiggan, a senior fellow at the Center of Excellence for National Security at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University. The posting appears to be "intended to send a message to its followers that they should consider a wider set of targets that just those in the Middle East," he said.
It also is "an operational suggestion to the homegrown jihadists and independent groups that follow the inspiration message of al-Qaida. To them, it outlines a suggested list of potential new targets.
Canada is at the top of that list."
Since 2000, he said, Canada's proven oil reserves have risen from about five billion barrels of oil to more than 180 billion barrels. That puts
Canada in the No. 2 position as an oil reserve country, second only to Saudi Arabia and significantly ahead of other states such as Iraq, Kuwait or Iran.
"Sawt al-Jihad has correctly analyzed the oil- importing situation of the United States and concluded that it is not just Middle Eastern suppliers that are important," he said.
Martin Rudner, director of Carleton University's Canadian Centre of Intelligence and Security Studies, characterized the posting Tuesday as "very serious" and said "the highest levels in our security and intelligence community," have been aware of it since Friday.
He said al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula are "a bunch of guys with capability and intent. I would ramp up my awareness, all the kinds of things which intelligence and law enforcement agencies are supposed to do."
Email to a friend
Printer friendly
Font: ****Because the Sawt al-Jihad article contains some operational details of the 2006 Abqaiq attack, Rudner said he believes it is intended as a call-to-arms rather than a piece of alarmist propaganda.
He said a successful attack against Canadian supplies and a resulting disruption of American oil and gas would also inflict a major symbolic wound against North America.
It would "damage the most important bilateral trade connection in the infidel world. To interrupt this would be not only of economic significance, but of symbolic significance," he said.
Kyle Keith, director of operations for the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, said companies have several emergency programs in place.
"The fact that this information is making the rounds and we're sharing it shows our security programs are working," he said.
"Unfortunately the nature is our programs are a bit reactive, but so far it looks like things are working as they should -- the sharing of information and the heightened awareness."
The Saudi group is believed to also have been responsible for a May 2004 incident in which attackers stormed the offices of a Houston-based oil company in the western Saudi oil hub of Yanbu. An ensuring gun battle killed six Westerners, a Saudi and the militants. Several weeks later, gunmen believed to belong to the group stormed oil company compounds in Khobar, on the eastern coast, and took hostages in a siege that killed 22 people, 19 of them foreigners.
Months later, in December 2004, bin Laden for the first time called on militants to attack oil targets in the Gulf to stop the flow of oil to the West.
A crackdown on the group by Saudi officials resulted in Sawt al-Jihad going silent in April 2005. Its resurfacing last week "appears to indicate that the al-Qaida presence in Saudi Arabia is trying to reassert itself," said Quiggan, who has held previous intelligence positions with the Canadian Armed Forces, the Privy Council Office, Citizenship and Immigration, and the RCMP.
Canada's role as No. 1 petroleum exporter to the U.S. has attracted attention from al-Qaida terrorists
Ian MacLeod, Ottawa Citizen; CanWest News Service; with files from the Edmonton Journal, Calgary Herald
Published: Wednesday, February 14, 2007
OTTAWA - Al-Qaida has called for terrorist strikes against Canadian oil and natural gas facilities to "choke the U.S. economy."
An online message, posted Thursday by the al-Qaida Organization in the Arabian Peninsula, declares "we should strike petroleum interests in all areas which supply the United States ... like Canada," the No. 1 exporter of oil and gas to the United States.
"The biggest party hurt will be the industrial nations, and on top of them, the United States."
Pipelines, like this one in Alaska, were identified as targets last year.
The Associated Press, file
Font: ****The same group, the Saudi arm of Osama bin Laden's terrorist network, claimed responsibility for last February's attack on the world's largest oil processing facility at Abqaiq in Saudi Arabia's eastern province.
The attack was foiled when guards at the site opened fire on the terrorists, blowing up their vehicles filled with explosives before they could get through the gates.
The message is contained in Sawt al-Jihad (Voice of Jihad), the group's online magazine.
A feature article, entitled Bin Laden's Oil Weapon, encourages operatives to continue to follow earlier directives from bin Laden to strike oil targets not only in Saudi Arabia, but elsewhere, according to a translation by the SITE Institute, a non-profit U.S. group that monitors terrorist websites.
Three western countries are mentioned in the call-to-arms -- Canada first, followed by Mexico and Venezuela. Would-be attackers are instructed to specifically target oilfields, pipelines, loading platforms and carriers.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service said Tuesday it was aware of the posting, as is Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada.
"Do we think it's a serious threat? I can't get into that," said CSIS spokeswoman Barbara Campion.
Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach said his province is working closely with "the federal government and the American government ... to have the most modern tracking system in terms of threat and, of course, monitoring and also surveillance of all the critical infrastructure in Alberta when it comes to oil and gas.
"I didn't know that Osama bin Laden knows where I am, but infrastructure is critical and that's where we'll be protecting it," Stelmach added.
Greg Stringham, vice-president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, said the threat is similar to a posting made about a year ago, when an al-Qaida-affiliated Internet blog called on Canadian and U.S. jihadists to attack an Alaskan oil pipeline.
The new posting is "not singling out Canada, it specifically mentions Canada, but along with some other countries that are suppliers to the U.S.," he said.
"It's not the first time that it's happened and we have no credible threat to substantiate it ... but still we are taking it seriously and we've informed all of our members and contacts about that -- especially those with critical infrastructure -- to pay extra attention and be vigilant."
The Alberta Energy and Utilities Board knew about the threat the day it appeared online thanks to information from Canadian intelligence agencies, said spokesman Darin Barter.
"We're aware of this," he said Tuesday, adding the warning wasn't significant enough to warrant raising the threat level. "There was no evidence that pointed to any imminent or direct threat to Alberta infrastructure."
Alberta sites deemed "critical infrastructure" are forced to have plans guarding against a terrorist attack.
The EUB is responsible for ensuring the protection of Alberta's critical energy infrastructure.
Email to a friend
Printer friendly
Font: ****Barter wouldn't list specific sites, though they include an oilsands mine, electrical transmission lines, a pipeline, petrochemical plant, refinery, and facilities for processing gas or oilsands products and generating electricity.
The Alberta Security and Strategic Intelligence Support Team also decided "the threat level is low," said Andy Weiler, a spokesman for Fred Lindsay, Alberta solicitor general and minister of public security. Lindsay was not involved in that decision.
"There was nothing in this information that specifically identified any Alberta oil facility," Weiler said. "It was not necessary to bring the minister in."
Barter would not say what could push the threat level to higher preparedness but said "just one posting" would be unlikely to do it.
"We are part of Alberta's Counter-Terrorism Crisis Management Plan, he said. "We look at information provided to us 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. It does not start or stop at one threat."
Experts have long considered the U.S. dependence on foreign oil -- and al-Qaida's evolving strategy to attempt to deny the U.S. access to its major oil suppliers -- as the country's Achilles heel.
A major supply disruption would send energy prices soaring. Had the Abqaiq attack been successful, some experts say oil prices would have likely broken all records. A catastrophic hit could bring transportation and other parts of the U.S. and other world economies to a standstill.
"We should strike petroleum interests in all areas which supply the United States, and not only in the Middle East, because the target is to stop its imports or decrease it by all means," says the article.
"We should not be overly concerned at this exact moment. Al-Qaida as an organization has been severely weakened," said Tom Quiggan, a senior fellow at the Center of Excellence for National Security at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University. The posting appears to be "intended to send a message to its followers that they should consider a wider set of targets that just those in the Middle East," he said.
It also is "an operational suggestion to the homegrown jihadists and independent groups that follow the inspiration message of al-Qaida. To them, it outlines a suggested list of potential new targets.
Canada is at the top of that list."
Since 2000, he said, Canada's proven oil reserves have risen from about five billion barrels of oil to more than 180 billion barrels. That puts
Canada in the No. 2 position as an oil reserve country, second only to Saudi Arabia and significantly ahead of other states such as Iraq, Kuwait or Iran.
"Sawt al-Jihad has correctly analyzed the oil- importing situation of the United States and concluded that it is not just Middle Eastern suppliers that are important," he said.
Martin Rudner, director of Carleton University's Canadian Centre of Intelligence and Security Studies, characterized the posting Tuesday as "very serious" and said "the highest levels in our security and intelligence community," have been aware of it since Friday.
He said al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula are "a bunch of guys with capability and intent. I would ramp up my awareness, all the kinds of things which intelligence and law enforcement agencies are supposed to do."
Email to a friend
Printer friendly
Font: ****Because the Sawt al-Jihad article contains some operational details of the 2006 Abqaiq attack, Rudner said he believes it is intended as a call-to-arms rather than a piece of alarmist propaganda.
He said a successful attack against Canadian supplies and a resulting disruption of American oil and gas would also inflict a major symbolic wound against North America.
It would "damage the most important bilateral trade connection in the infidel world. To interrupt this would be not only of economic significance, but of symbolic significance," he said.
Kyle Keith, director of operations for the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, said companies have several emergency programs in place.
"The fact that this information is making the rounds and we're sharing it shows our security programs are working," he said.
"Unfortunately the nature is our programs are a bit reactive, but so far it looks like things are working as they should -- the sharing of information and the heightened awareness."
The Saudi group is believed to also have been responsible for a May 2004 incident in which attackers stormed the offices of a Houston-based oil company in the western Saudi oil hub of Yanbu. An ensuring gun battle killed six Westerners, a Saudi and the militants. Several weeks later, gunmen believed to belong to the group stormed oil company compounds in Khobar, on the eastern coast, and took hostages in a siege that killed 22 people, 19 of them foreigners.
Months later, in December 2004, bin Laden for the first time called on militants to attack oil targets in the Gulf to stop the flow of oil to the West.
A crackdown on the group by Saudi officials resulted in Sawt al-Jihad going silent in April 2005. Its resurfacing last week "appears to indicate that the al-Qaida presence in Saudi Arabia is trying to reassert itself," said Quiggan, who has held previous intelligence positions with the Canadian Armed Forces, the Privy Council Office, Citizenship and Immigration, and the RCMP.
