| Supplemental Info:
While the tactics suggested in the poster are amateurish, the targets are not. Every sector of the oil and gas fuel cycle is vulnerable to terrorist threats to varying degrees.
GAS STATIONS
Multiple direct attacks on gas stations have occurred over the past two decades, with most taking place in the Middle East, including Israel.
In August 2019, 19-YO Awais Chudhary, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Pakistan, was arrested during preparation for an attack on the Flushing Bay Promenade And the World’s Fair Marina. As part of his pre-attack reconnaissance, FBI agents surveilled Chudhary taking videos and photos with his cellphone of various locations, including a nearby gas station.
Frequently such sites are located in areas with high population density, thereby increasing the possible lethality given the explosive potential of the fuel and gas. Although the damage potential for each retail site is limited, a coordinated attack on several location could have significant socioeconomic impact. In addition to the ease of targeting such sites, attacks on filling stations are attractive for terrorists because of the ensured media attention.
GAS TANKER TRUCKS
Hundreds of thousands of vehicles haul hazmat materials each day in the U.S.. A typical fuel tanker carries approximately 9,000 gallons of gasoline, and they make up more than half of hazardous materials transported on America's roadways. Within a study for the Manetta Transportation Institute, fuel trucks were found to pose some of the most deadly threats among dangerous cargoes. Their use as a weapon of terror is asymmetric and relatively easy for a "lone wolf" to carry out.
The FBI has previously warned of the potential for terrorists to use tanker trucks to attack fuel depots, Jewish schools or synagogues, and other targets of opportunity. Such concerns are not unfounded. - In Tunisia in 2002, an individual linked to Al Qaeda detonated a propane tanker beside a synagogue, killing 21 people.
- In May and August of 2002, jihadists remotely triggered bombs attached to Israeli fuel tankers.
- In 2004, a visit to Iraq by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was highlighted by a fuel-truck attack that destroyed a neighborhood in Baghdad.
- In 2005, a suicide bomber in a fuel truck near a Shiite mosque in the town of Mussayib, near Kerbala, killed 98.
PIPELINES
According to the Congressional Research Service, nearly three million miles of pipeline transport natural gas, oil, and other hazardous liquids across the United States. Oil and gas pipelines, globally, have been a favored target of terrorists, militant groups, and organized crime. For example: - In 1996, London police foiled a plot by the Irish Republican Army to bomb gas pipelines and other utilities across the city.
- In Colombia, rebels have bombed the Cano Limon oil pipeline and other pipelines hundreds of times. So many attacks have targeted this pipeline that it carries the nickname "The Flute."
- In Nigeria, militants have repeatedly attacked oil pipelines, including coordinated bombings of three pipelines in 2007 and the sophisticated bombing of an underwater pipeline in 2016.
- In Mexico, a rebel group detonated bombs along oil and natural gas pipelines in July and September 2007.
- In Canada, natural gas pipelines in British Columbia were bombed six times between October 2008 and July 2009 by unknown perpetrators.
There are many more.
Pipelines in the United States have also been targeted by terrorists and other malicious individuals. - In 1999, Vancouver police arrested a man planning to bomb the Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) for personal profit in oil futures.
- In 2005, a U.S. citizen sought to conspire with Al Qaeda to attack TAPS and a major natural gas pipeline in the eastern United States.
- In 2006, federal authorities acknowledged the discovery of a detailed posting on a website purportedly linked to Al Qaeda that reportedly encouraged attacks on U.S. pipelines, especially TAPS, using weapons or hidden explosives.
- In 2007, the FBI arrested members of a terrorist group planning to attack jet fuel pipelines and storage tanks at the John F. Kennedy International Airport.
- In 2011, a man planted a bomb, which did not detonate, along a natural gas pipeline in Oklahoma.
- In 2012, a man who reportedly had been corresponding with "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski unsuccessfully bombed a natural gas pipeline in Plano, Texas.
Those working in related surface transportation, energy and chemical sectors are encouraged to review security procedures and protocols with their the employers. DHS and the FBI conduct outreach to related critical infrastructure stakeholders, though proactive efforts on the part of sector participants is always encouraged.
|
