(2
- 8 November 2002)
Iraqi oil exports under the United Nations oil-for-food
programme dropped to less than half of the previous week’s high of 19.3
million barrels to 7.3 million barrels in the week ending 8 November,
averaging slightly over 1 million barrels per day. The weekly exports were
completed in seven loadings, five from Mina-al-Bakr with 5.7 million barrels
of oil and two from Ceyhan with
1.6 million barrels. Priced at an average of approximately €20.80 (euros) or $20.80 per barrel, Iraqi crude yielded an estimated
€154 million or $154 million in revenue, at current prices and rate of
exchange.
Total exports of Iraqi crude in current phase XII of the
programme, which began on 30 May 2002, have amounted to 186.1 million barrels
of oil out of 480 million barrels approved by the United Nations oil overseers
under 196 oil purchase contracts, including four new contracts
approved in the past week. The estimated revenue generated so far in this
phase is €4.45 billion or $4.46 billion. Phase XII ends on 25 November 2002.
With 72 per cent of the total oil revenue being allocated to the humanitarian
programme, as required under Security Council resolution 1330 (2000), Iraq
would need to export about $7 billion worth of oil during the current phase in
order to meet its budgetary target of over $5 billion.
Since the beginning of the programme on
10 December 1996, Iraq has exported some 3.2 billion barrels of oil at an
estimated $38.6 billion and €22 billion ($20 billion) in revenue. Some
$39.3 billion worth of contracts have been approved by the Security
Council’s 661 sanctions committee and the Office of the Iraq Programme (OIP)
for the purchase of various humanitarian supplies and equipment, including
about $3.6 billion worth of oil industry spare parts and equipment. So far,
more than $25 billion worth of supplies and equipment have been delivered to
Iraq, including $1.5 billion worth oil spare parts and equipment, while
another $10.4 billion worth of supplies and equipment, for which funds have
been available, are in the production and delivery pipeline, including $1.8
billion worth of oil industry equipment.
A
cumulative revenue shortfall since phase VIII of the programme has left 1,608
approved humanitarian supply contracts, worth over $3.1 billion, without
available funds. The sectors affected by the revenue shortfall are:
electricity with $587 million; agriculture with $545 million; food handling
with $513million; health with $334 million; housing with $320 million; water
and sanitation with $301 million; education with $260 million and;
telecommunications and transportation with $246 million.
Following the approval of a list of nearly 6,000 items by
the 661 Committee on 28 October 2002 for “fast-tracking”, OIP has
processed the first batch of 15 eligible contracts worth $44.5 million under
this procedure, as authorized by Security Council resolution 1409 (2002).
Out
of a total of 3,392 contracts for humanitarian supplies worth over $6.4
billion processed by the United Nations Secretariat under the new set of
procedures of Security Council resolution 1409 (2002), based on the Goods
Review List (GRL), 2,147 contracts worth about $2,77 billion (43.2 per cent)
have been approved by OIP after having been assessed by the United Nations
Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as not containing any GRL items,
including a number of contracts previously placed on hold by the 661
Committee. UNMOVIC/IAEA have categorized 1,123 contracts worth $3.24 billion
(50.6 per cent) as “GRL non-compliant”, requiring additional technical
information from suppliers to enable final assessment.
So
far, 126 contracts worth $424 million (3.7 per cent) were found to contain GRL
items, of which 13 contracts worth $3.85 million were approved and 15
contracts worth $21.7 million were rejected by the Committee. Three GRL-contracts
worth $7.35 million had lapsed in the absence of a petition from the supplier
to the Committee. The remaining GRL-contracts were at various stages of
action.
