News Stories - Iraqi Oil Guards
The breach in the water pipeline was a matter of frustration -- a large area of Baghdad without water for twenty hours.

But the fires burning in the oil pipeline to Turkey are a more crucial setback for hopes of rebuilding the country.

Local oil officials are blaming sabotage and with the pipeline once again shut down, Iraq is losing seven million dollars a day in oil revenue.

Now thousands more guards are being recruited to join more than five thousand Iraqis already watching the pipeline. But it stretches for around a thousand kilometres and protecting the whole length won't be an easy task; and unless Iraq can ensure a constant supply of its oil, customers may go elsewhere.

 
- vocabulary:
breach: formal word for break; here, break in supply
pipeline: large pipe through which oil or gas flows over long distances
frustration: feeling angry or irritated because something is not possible
crucial setback: event that delays something important


sabotage: planned action that stops something from being successful; during the French revolution workers used to throw wooden shoes or 'sabots' into machinery to stop it working
oil revenue: money from sales of oil


recruited: found for work in a particular job

stretches: covers that distance


constant supply: amount provided that stays the same over a period of time
go elsewhere: buy from another place
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