Iraq exported, on average, 1.5 million barrels of oil a day
during the week of 3 - 9 March 2001, totaling 10.2 million barrels under the
United Nations oil-for-food programme. There were six loadings at the two
authorized terminals of Mina al-Bakr and Ceyhan. The week’s exports raised
an estimated
€213 million
(euros) in revenue at current prices.
The average price of Iraqi crude oil during the period was
approximately $21.42 or
€23 (euros) per barrel.
In the current phase IX, which runs from 6 December 2000 to 3 June 2001, Iraq
has so far exported 100.8 million barrels of oil for an estimated revenue of
over €2.18 billion (euros).
The total Iraqi oil exports now stand at 2,307 million
barrels, having earned some $38.6 billion and
€2.18
billion (euros) in
estimated revenue since the start of the programme on 10 December 1996.
The United Nations oil overseers and the Security
Council’s 661sanctions Committee approved five
new oil purchase contracts during the week for six million barrels of Kirkuk
crude and four million barrels of Basrah Light. There are now 121 approved
contracts for the lifting of over 343 million barrels of oil, 205
million barrels of which are for Basrah Light and 138 million barrels for
Kirkuk.
The total value of contracts placed on hold by the 661
Committee increased slightly during the week. There were 1,658 contracts worth
over $3.35 billion on hold, representing 17.1 per cent of the value of all
contracts circulated to the Committee. Of these, 1,104 contracts worth $2.92
billion were for humanitarian supplies, while 554 contracts worth $427 million
were for oil industry spare parts and equipment.
During the week, 21 contracts worth $21 million were
released from hold by the Committee and 37 new contracts worth $50.8 million
were put on hold by the Committee for various reasons.
The recently released contracts included water well units,
water tankers, welding sets, a cement factory plant and five contracts for
aluminum hydroxide. The latter is a raw material used in the production of
aluminum sulfate, which is an important substance in the water purification
process. The aluminum hydroxide contracts were released from hold on condition
of close end-use observation by the United Nations observation mechanism in
Iraq. Contracts newly placed on hold included computers, cranes, fire fighting
vehicles, water tankers, turbine and compressor blades and a sprinkler
irrigation system.
In phases IV to IX, the Committee has now approved 5,339
contracts worth almost $11.3 billion for humanitarian supplies and another
2,389 contracts worth about $1.3 billion for the purchase of oil industry
spare parts and equipment. The Office of the Iraq Programme (OIP) has notified
the Committee of 1,499 contracts worth $3.2 billion for humanitarian supplies
which have been processed under “fast track” procedures based on
pre-approved lists, while another 106 contracts worth over $64 million have
also been “fast tracked” for oil industry spare parts and equipment.