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UN Says Buyers May Lift Iraqi Oil Without Price Agreement
The United Nations on Thursday told buyers of Iraqi oil that they may load crude but not pay for it until it reaches agreement with Iraq over the price.
The move came after the United Nations sanctions committee on Iraq held consultations on the issue this morning.
Speaking to the press, UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said that "after meeting this morning, the United Nations sanctions committee on Iraq has requested the UN oil overseers to communicate to buyers of Iraq's oil immediately."
"At this point, there is no agreed pricing mechanism for the month of December for the sale of Iraqi oil," Eckhard said.
"However, loading of oil can continue without a pricing mechanism but until there are U.N.-approved prices, no payments can be made for the oil lifted," he said.
"Once there is an agreed price mechanism between the Iraq State oil Marketing Organization and the sanctions committee, payment including for oil already loaded can resume into the UN-controlled Iraq escrow account," the spokesman added.
Iraq has asked its customers to pay a 0.50-US dollar premium over the official purchase price from December 1, and to pay it into an account not controlled by the United Nations.
The sanctions committee on Tuesday rejected Iraq's proposed pricing formula for December, saying that it did not reflect a fair market value.
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