The Executive Director of the Office of the
Iraq Programme has written to the Iraqi Mission to the United Nations, once
again raising concerns about the value of approved contracts for which the
Central Bank of Iraq has not yet issued instructions to BNP-Paribas to open
letters of credit. There are currently 603 approved contracts worth $1.1
billion in this category, 45 of which worth $21.6 million are for oil industry
spare parts and equipment.
In the week to 27 October, Iraq exported
18.7 million barrels of oil with an estimated value of $495 million. The total
oil exports in the current phase VIII (June to December 2000) are 301.2
million barrels for a revenue of almost $7.7 billion. Since the start of the
oil-for-food programme on 10 December 1996, Iraq has exported 2,132 million
barrels of oil with a value of almost $36.7 billion.
In phases IV to VIII, the Committee has
approved more than $8.66 billion worth of contracts for humanitarian supplies,
while another $2.65 billion worth have been processed by OIP under "fast
track" procedures based on pre-approved lists of supplies. The Committee
has also approved a total of 2,257 contracts worth over $1.19 billion for the
purchase of oil industry spare parts and equipment and another 66 contracts
worth almost $52 million have been approved under the "fast track"
procedures.
The total value of contracts on hold as at
27 October remained almost unchanged at $2.28 billion from the previous
week’s ($1.99 billion for humanitarian supplies and $289 million for oil
industry spare parts and equipment). During the week, 42 contracts worth $55.2
million were released from hold by the Committee, while 41 new contracts worth
$52 million were placed on hold. The contracts released from hold were largely
in the electricity sector, with 15 contracts worth $32 million.
