Terror targetsOil tankers and refineries on high alert based on latest al Qaeda intelligence
Refineries and ship operators are on a state of heightened alert after documents recovered from the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound revealed that al Qaeda had considered bombing oil tankers; DHS officials issued the warning to law enforcement officials nationwide based on evidence that al Qaeda operatives had discussed holding drills to practice hijacking and bombing oil tankers to create “an extreme economic crisis” in the United States; port officials and refineries in Houston, Texas are particularly wary, as it is the largest oil producing region in the United States with tankers constantly moving in and out
Refineries and ship operators are on a state of heightened alert after documents recovered from the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound revealed that al Qaeda had considered bombing oil tankers.
DHS officials issued the warning to law enforcement officials nationwide based on evidence that al Qaeda operatives had discussed holding drills to practice hijacking and bombing oil tankers to create “an extreme economic crisis” in the United States.
Port officials and refineries in Houston, Texas are particularly wary, as it is the largest oil producing region in the United States with tankers constantly moving in and out.
Patrick Seeba, project manager for the Greater Houston Port Bureau, said, “The Houston petro-chemical complex is the largest in the United States. It’s the second largest in the world. We move almost 8,000 ships a year here, and 3,700 of those were tankers.”
Seeba estimates that each day somewhere between twenty-five and thirty tankers laden with oil and other chemicals pass through the Houston Ship Channel. He adds that industry officials up and down the supply chain are paying extra attention to the latest terror warning.
“We’re the energy capital of the US. This is a target-rich environment,” said a former FBI terrorism agent who spoke anonymously to local Houston news station KCEN.
The agent added, “[Terrorists] know we’re paying $4 a gallon” for gas, so any attack could lead to higher fuel prices, resulting in a domino effect across industries that could hurt the entire nation’s economy.
The DHS warning to law enforcement agencies cautioned that the latest intelligence revealed that al Qaeda considered mid-spring to late summer as the ideal time to execute an attack on oil tankers. The organization’s plans also specified that due to the tankers’ reinforced hulls, ships would have to be blown apart from the inside to result in significant damage.
DHS was careful to note that the nationwide terrorism alert level would not be raised because it did not have any evidence to suggest that a plot is currently being planned.
The U.S. Coast Guard said that is ready to respond to any threats with its armed terrorism boat patrols that are ready to be deployed anywhere along the Houston Ship Channel. In addition, the Coast Guard and local police departments are tapped in to a real-time radar system that racks the exact size and location of every tanker in the Houston area.
