Iraq resumed its oil exports on 10 July, under the United
Nations oil-for-food programme. In
the following three days, a total of 6.8 million barrels of oil were lifted
through three loadings. There
were two loadings at Mina al-Bakr terminal, with 4.7 million barrels of oil
and one at Ceyhan, with 2.1 million barrels.
These were the first exports in current phase X, accruing an estimated
revenue of €151 million (euros) or $129 million at current prices and rate
of exchange. Phase X began on 4
July and runs through 30 November 2001. The
average price of Iraqi crude oil during the week was approximately €25.42 or
$21.71 per barrel.
Since the beginning of the
programme on 10 December 1996, Iraq has exported just over 2.5 billion barrels
of oil for an estimated revenue of $38.6 billion and €6.8 billion (or
$5.8 billion at current prices and rate of exchange).
The United States dollar was replaced with the euro for the Iraqi oil
purchases in early November 2000, at the request of the Government of Iraq and
with the authorization of the 661 committee.
With the adoption of Security
Council resolution 1330 (2000) on 5 December 2000, 72 per cent of the oil
revenue funds the humanitarian programme in Iraq, 59 per cent of which is for
the 15 central and southern governorates and 13 per cent for the three
northern governorates of Iraq.
Nine
new oil purchase contracts were approved in the course of the week by the
United Nations oil overseers for 32 million barrels of Basrah Light and 19
million barrels of Kirkuk crude. Currently,
there are 45 approved oil contracts, amounting to almost 160
million barrels of oil, 103 million of which are
for Basrah Light and 57 million for Kirkuk.
The value of contracts placed on
hold by the Security Council’s 661 sanctions committee remained almost
constant at $3.4 billion. During
the week the Committee released from hold 25 contracts worth $104.1 million,
while placing on hold 58 new contracts valued at $105.3 million.
Among the new “releases” were several high-value contracts in the
telecommunications and food-handling sectors, including one telecommunications
contract worth $28.2 million for a small mobile network and two contracts for
flour mills valued at $50.1 million. In
all, 1,404 contracts are currently on hold, 956 of which worth $2.97 billion
are for humanitarian supplies and 448 contracts worth $438 million for oil
industry spare parts and equipment.
Since the start of the programme, the 661 Committee has
approved 11,767 contracts worth $18.5 billion for humanitarian supplies for
Iraq, while the Office of the Iraq Programme (OIP) has processed another 2,398
contracts under “fast-track” procedures worth $5.8 billion, based on
pre-approved lists of supplies. In
addition, the Committee has approved 2,673 contracts worth $1.48 billion for
the purchase of oil industry spare parts and equipment, with OIP having
“fast-tracked” another 393 contracts worth $375 million in this category
of goods. “Fast-tracking”
began in March 2000.
As
at 13 July 2001, $13.5 billion worth of humanitarian supplies and $784 million
worth of oil industry spare parts and equipment had been delivered to Iraq
since the start of the programme.
Another $10.2 billion worth of supplies, including $1 billion worth of
oil spare parts and equipment, were in the production and delivery pipeline.
Also, $1.9
billion and €1.5 billion in unused funds were available in the United
Nations escrow account for the issuance of additional letters of credit for
the purchase of humanitarian supplies and oil spare parts and equipment by the
Government of Iraq.
