Oil in Haiti?
The Possibility Could be a Solution or Another Problem
2010-04-19
By Del Walters

There are two major concerns coming out of the situation in Haiti these days.  One concern is that not enough is being done, or if it is being done than the job is much larger than anyone anticipated.  Quietly, however, a new concern is emerging - that there may be other factors when it comes to Haiti, especially the ulterior motivating factor known as “Oil”. 

Bloomberg News is reporting that there may indeed be oil offshore in Haiti, and natural gas reserves that could reshape the economic landscape of the island nation:
The Greater Antilles, which includes Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and their offshore waters, probably hold at least 142 million barrels of oil and 159 billion cubic feet of gas, according to a 2000 report by the U.S. Geological Survey. Undiscovered amounts may be as high as 941 million barrels of oil and 1.2 trillion cubic feet of gas, according to the report.

Among nations in the northern Caribbean, Cuba and Jamaica have awarded offshore leases for oil and gas development. Trinidad and Tobago, South American islands off the coast of Venezuela, account for most Caribbean oil production, according to the U.S. Energy Department.

 What this means is that a decade ago the United States Government, knew there was oil off of Haiti at a time when the Bush administration was choking the country’s foreign aid.  Keep in mind we’re talking about the same Bush administration that went to war in Iraq for what many  believe was to only to get at that country’s oil. It is the same administration that declared Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez public enemy number one, Venezuela being another oil rich nation.

What does this mean for Haiti’s reconstruction?  That is the question being whispered inside the beltway by those who are concerned about Haiti’s survival.

I attended a meeting on Friday where the major concern was that NGOs (Non Governmental Agencies) such as churches and other groups have spent millions in Haiti and yet there are still reports coming out of Port Au Prince that the best efforts so far haven’t made a dent in the devastation.  Privately some of those in attendance expressed concerns that oil means Haiti needs an honest broker.  They feared oil interests would trump humanitarian interests and pointed to the massive U.S. Embassy on the island.  Clearly not enough is being done.

That same day, Natasha Archer wrote in the Washington Post, of her six weeks in Haiti:

 There are few words other than "horrible" to explain the stench emanating from the nursing school at General Hospital, as Hôpital Universitaire d'État d'Haïti is known. I couldn't hold my breath the entire time it took to walk by the remains of the building, which collapsed during exams and killed essentially a first-year class of nursing students.” 

She goes onto say when seeing the same things that I saw at the same hospital:
  "…inspiration" is not among the things that come to mind -- especially not when walking past cribs with dead babies in them.  The most neutral response about my time in Haiti is "challenging." It was physically challenging. With the temperature always 90 degrees or hotter, the tents, especially the pediatric tents, were like incubators -- at least 10 degrees warmer than outside.”  

Oil could make Haitians rich.  It could also muddy the political will to do the right thing.  It is too soon to tell which scenario will play out.  Right now replacing tents with more permanent structures and getting food and water to those affected seems to be the predominant battle.  The problem is, when I got off the plane in Haiti I noticed some of those familiar figures I have seen in other regions.  I saw people with muscular builds, dark sunglasses that didn’t look like doctors or aid workers, but instead, freelance soldiers. They are the type of freelance soldiers that so often accompany big businesses seeking to invoke their will on the government of some third world nation.   I have seen them before in places like Liberia, West Africa. 

 So is there cause for concern? Bloomberg quotes Stephen Pierce, a geologist who once worked for Mobil as saying, ““Haiti, from the standpoint of oil and gas exploration, is a lot less developed than the Dominican Republic,” Pierce said. “Neither nation produces oil or gas. As much as 1 trillion cubic feet of gas may be trapped in a border formation near the earthquake fault. One could do a lot more work there,” Pierce continued.  The question is when will that work begin and will that work affect the other work to rebuild Haiti?

 Oddly the discovery of oil in Haiti is nothing new.  Bloomberg also reported that, “Abraham Lincoln’s consul to the Dominican Republic reported oil seeps there in 1862.” With that much of a head start, perhaps it is time that we pay more attention to the poorest island in the Western Hemisphere. It may be a lot richer than anyone thinks. That type of money brings with it a special type of problem.  The type of problem that gets in the way of good intentions even when it comes to disaster relief.