Oil Espionage: New Leak Reveals Spy Agencies Tapped Int'l Oil Group

[unhappycamper]

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/11/11-4



Disclosure further illustrates expanse of NSA and GCHQ surveillance umbrella

Oil Espionage: New Leak Reveals Spy Agencies Tapped Int'l Oil Group
- Lauren McCauley, staff writer
Published on Monday, November 11, 2013 by Common Dreams

Both the NSA and the U.K. spy agency, GCHQ, have infiltrated the computer networks of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), according to documents disclosed by whistleblower Edward Snowden and reported on by Der Spiegel Monday.

As critics note, this latest disclosure illustrates, once again, the expanse of the U.S. and U.K. spy networks and the breadth of their "collect-it-all" mandate despite attempts to frame their spy activities as strictly "counterterrorism."

According to a January 2008 document, the NSA department in charge of energy issues reported it had "accomplished its mission" of infiltrating OPEC, the 12-member consortium built to control the global oil market. Der Spiegel reports:

When the NSA used the Internet to infiltrate OPEC's computers, its analysts discovered an internal study in the OPEC Research Division. It stated that OPEC officials were trying to cast the blame for high oil prices on speculators. A look at files in the OPEC legal department revealed how the organization was preparing itself for an antitrust suit in the United States. And a review of the section reserved for the OPEC secretary general documented that the Saudis were using underhanded tactics, even within the organization. According to the NSA analysts, Riyadh had tried to keep an increase in oil production a secret for as long as possible.