UN Reports Sharp Increase in Iraqi Oil ExportsThe Iraqi oil exports under the United Nations oil-for-food program surged to an average of 2.29 million barrels a day in the week leading to April 6, from the previous week's average of 1.8 million barrels a day, The UN said Tuesday.The United Nations Office of the Iraq Program said that during the week Iraq sold 16 million barrels of oil, earning an estimated 318 million US dollars in revenue at current price. In current phase IX, which runs from December 6, 2000 to June 3, 2001, Iraq has exported 163 million barrels of oil, raising an estimated 3.13 billion dollars in revenue, the office said. The total Iraqi oil exports since the beginning of the oil-for- food program in December 1996 now stand at almost 2,370 million barrels, for an estimated revenue of some 38.6 billion dollars, the office reported. The total value of contracts placed on hold by the UN sanctions committee on Iraq now stands at 3.43 billion dollars, including 2.99 billion for humanitarian supplies, and 438 million for oil industry spare parts and equipment, it added. The oil-for-food program was directed to ease the suffering of the Iraqi people caused by the stringent UN sanctions which was imposed on Iraq after its invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Under the United Nations Security Council resolution establishing the oil-for-food program, 66 percent of earning goes to fund the country's humanitarian needs and 30 percent is directed to the Compensation Committee which pays claims arising from Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. The remainder goes to pay the costs of U.N. operations in the country. |
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