On
24 May 2001, the Security Council’s 661 sanctions committee approved a list
of about 100 items in the electricity sector for “fast-track” processing.
Similar lists now exist for seven other sectors of the oil-for-food
programme, namely for food, health, education, agriculture, water and
sanitation, housing, oil industry spare parts and equipment.
Since the adoption of the first of these lists in March 2000, the
Office of the Iraq Programme (OIP) has processed 2,314 contracts worth over
$4.76 billion, based on these pre-approved lists of supplies, including 253
contracts valued at $210 million for oil industry spare parts and equipment.
In
terms of Iraqi oil exports, the weekly figure for the period 19 to 25 May
showed a slight increase, totaling 15.6 million barrels, at the rate of just
over 2.2 million barrels per day.
The week’s exports generated an estimated €433 million
(euros) in revenue, at current prices.
There were five loadings each at Mina al-Bakr and Ceyhan terminals,
with the lifting of 10.1 million barrels at Mina al-Bakr and 5.5 million
barrels at Ceyhan.
The average price of Iraqi crude oil during the week was approximately
$24.02 or €27.79 per barrel.
So
far in current phase IX of the programme, which ends on 3 June, oil exports
total 268.4 million barrels, having raised an estimated €6 billion
in revenue, at current prices.
Iraq’s oil exports since the start of the programme on 10 December
1996 stand at about 2.47 billion barrels, for an estimated revenue of some
$38.6 billion and €6 billion.
The United Nations oil overseers during the week approved
four new oil purchase contracts for four million barrels each of Basrah Light
and Kirkuk crude. There are now
172 approved contracts for the lifting of more than 565 million barrels of
oil, of which 347 million barrels are for Basrah
Light and 218 million for Kirkuk.
There
was a modest drop in the value of contracts placed on hold by the 661
Committee, bringing the total to $3.67 billion, covering 1,696 contracts.
This represents 17.4 per cent of the value of all contracts circulated
to the Committee.
The “holds” comprised 1,143 contracts worth $3.22 billion for
humanitarian supplies and 553 contracts worth $451 million for oil industry
spare parts and equipment.
In the course of the week, the Committee lifted the hold on 10
contracts worth $36.9 million, and placed on hold 23 new contracts, valued at
$27.3 million.
The “released” contracts included locomotives, dental supplies,
fans and compressors.
The new “holds” covered cranes, trucks, medical supplies, hydraulic
pumps and generators.
The Committee members cite various reasons for placing a
contract on hold. Of the total
value of the contracts on hold currently, 52.2 per cent require additional
technical or end-use/end-user information; 33.4 per cent contain “1051
list” items; 8.3 per cent are thought to be of “dual use”; 4.7 per cent
await further evaluation by the Committee; 1.15 per cent cover oil industry
spare parts and equipment and are placed on hold as not directly relating to
the repair of Iraqi oil infrastructure for the increase of oil exports.
The remaining 0.25 per cent fall under the category of “other
reasons”, which could range from payment mechanism clauses that are not
permitted, questionable prices to illegible documentation.
In
phases IV to IX that are currently active, the 661 Committee has approved
8,259 contracts worth $13.7 billion, including 2,465 contracts worth more than
$1.37 billion for the purchase of oil industry spare parts and equipment.
This brings the total value of approved contracts in all categories and
combined with “fast-track” processing to $18.46 billion.
