(16 - 22 November 2002)
The volume of Iraqi oil exports under the United Nations
oil-for-food programme more than doubled from the previous week’s total,
standing at 17.1 million barrels in the week ending 22 November. Averaging a
high of 2.44 million barrels per day, the crude shipments were completed in
six loadings each from the two authorized terminals of Mina-al-Bakr and Ceyhan,
with 10.9 million barrels and 6.2 million barrels, respectively. The week’s
exports generated an estimated
revenue of €363
million (euros) or $365 million, at an average price of approximately
€21.25 or $21.40 per barrel.
During the reporting week, the United Nations oil overseers
approved one new oil purchase contract, bringing their total in current phase
XII of the programme to 202 for 490 million barrels of oil, out of which 211.5
million barrels have been lifted out of Iraq by the contract-holders. The
estimated revenue so far in this phase is €5.07 billion or $5.08 billion.
Phase XII ends on 25 November 2002. Iraq would need to export about $7 billion
worth of oil during the current phase in order to meet its humanitarian
programme budget of over $5 billion. The humanitarian programme receives 72
per cent of the oil revenue, with 25 per cent being allocated to the
Compensation Fund, 2.2 per cent to the United Nations for the programme’s
administrative/operational costs and 0.8 per cent for the administration of
the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC).
Since the beginning of the programme on 10 December 1996,
Iraq has exported some 3.24 billion barrels of oil at an estimated $38.6
billion and €22.6 billion ($20.7 billion) in revenue. Some $39.9 billion
worth of contracts for the purchase of various humanitarian supplies and
equipment have been approved by the Security Council’s 661 sanctions
committee and the Office of the Iraq Programme (OIP), including about $3.6
billion worth of oil industry spare parts and equipment. So far, over $25.3
billion worth of supplies and equipment have been delivered to Iraq, including
$1.6 billion worth of oil spare parts and equipment, while another $10.5
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 persisting cumulative revenue shortfall from previous
phases of the programme has left 1,646 approved humanitarian supply contracts,
worth about $3.1 billion, without available funds. The sectors lacking funds
against approved contracts are: agriculture with $573 million; food handling
with $537 million; electricity with $395 million; health with $371 million;
water and sanitation with $330 million; housing with $326 million; education
with $284 million; and telecommunications and transportation with $251
million.
Out of a total of 3,801contracts for humanitarian supplies
worth about $6.95 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), 2,522 contracts worth about $3.3 billion (47.5
per cent) have been approved by OIP, after having been assessed by UNMOVIC and
the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as not containing any GRL items.
The approvals include 873 contracts worth about $1.26
billion that had been previously on hold by the 661 Committee and were now
re-circulated and reviewed by UNMOVIC/IAEA under paragraph 18 of the
procedures of resolution 1409 (2002).
UNMOVIC/IAEA have categorized 1,142 contracts worth $3.22
billion (43.4 per cent) as “GRL non-compliant”, requiring additional
technical information from suppliers to enable final assessment.
So far, 144 contracts worth about $454 million were found by
UNMOVIC/IAEA to contain GRL items, of which 13 contracts worth $3.85 million
were approved and 36 contracts worth $62 million rejected by the Committee.
Another six contracts, worth over $29 million, were approved by OIP after the
suppliers either deleted or replaced the GRL items in the contracts. The
remaining GRL-contracts were at various stages of action.
