Last Week Registers Record Low of Iraqi Oil ExportsThe week of February 3 to 9 registered the lowest level of Iraqi oil exports under the United Nations oil-for-food program, the United Nations Office of the Iraqi Program reported on Tuesday.A total of 1.6 million barrels were lifted through two loadings last week, the lowest record of weekly Iraqi oil exports since the implementation of the humanitarian program, the office said. Iraq has exported 55.3 million barrels of oil at current prices in phase IX which began on December 6, the office said. The cumulative total oil exports since the beginning of the program in December 1996 stands at 2,261 million barrels for an estimated revenue of US$38.6 billion, it added. The oil-for-food program was designed to ease the suffering of the Iraqi people caused by the stringent UN sanctions. The United Nations imposed the sanctions against Iraq after its invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Under the Security Council resolution establishing the oil-for- food program, 66 percent of the earnings are used to fund the country's humanitarian needs and 30 percent is channeled to the Compensation Commission which pays claims arising from Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. The remainder is used to pay the costs of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission and U.N. operational costs. |
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