FEAR AND LOATHING

Terror attacks feared on rigs

OIL and gas platforms in the Timor Sea are vulnerable to attack by terrorists, and Australia's naval and air patrols are failing to protect the area.
This warning is contained in a damning navy think-tank report, which says oil and gas installations in the Joint Petroleum Development Area (500km north of Darwin, which is jointly administered by Australia and East Timor) 'are vulnerable to attack'.
The report, by the Defence Department's Matthew Flint, says taxpayers can expect to reap as much as $2 billion from the ConocoPhillips Bayu-Undan gasfield, expected to come on line in a fortnight. Woodside's yet-to-be-developed Greater Sunrise field is expected to yield a further $4 billion. Just outside the area is Australia's biggest oil-producing field, the BHP-owned Laminaria Corallina.
The report warns that the importance of the petroleum industry has been recognised by al-Qaeda and al-Qaeda-linked terrorist groups in Southeast Asia.
An attack on the oil tanker MV Limburg near Aden in October last year represented the 'beginning of maritime terrorism against the petroleum industry', with al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden declaring terrorists had hit the 'umbilical cord and lifeline of the crusader community'. "