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Weekly
Update
26 October 1998
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Oil-for-Food Background Information
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Record number of oil spare parts contracts approved by sanctions committee The Security Council's 661 Committee has approved an additional 19 contracts worth $10.1 million for spare parts and equipment for Iraq's oil industry. This is the highest one week total since the first approvals in mid-July and brings the total approvals to 75 contracts worth $72.43 million dollars. (A list of the latest approvals is attached) During the past week the Office of the Iraq Programme (OIP) received an additional 38 contracts for oil spare parts and equipment bringing the total received to 245 contracts received. The 661 Committee put an additional 16 contracts worth $5.62 million on hold. At present there are 72 contracts worth $39.9 million dollars on hold. The OIP has given priority attention to the oil sector since resolution 1175 (1998) was adopted in June this year, authorising Iraq to import up to $300 million of spare parts and equipment for the oil industry. This has included the assignment of additional staff and the use of external oil-industry expertise to advise both the OIP and the 661 Committee. The Executive Director, Benon Sevan, has emphasized to the Security Council and its 661 Committee the importance of expediting approvals in the oil sector and reviewing further contracts put on hold. Last week, the Permanent Mission of Iraq advised the OIP that the Government had signed 480 contracts for oil spare parts and equipment. Of the 245 contracts received by the OIP about 75 per cent have been processed and submitted to the 661 Committee within the 48 hour deadline set by the Secretary-General. The remainder fell into one of two categories: either requiring additional information from the permanent or observer missions which had presented them to the OIP or involving a contract, signed by the Government of Iraq, which was inconsistent with the Distribution Plan for the oil sector. The Oil Overseers approved one new contract for the export of Iraqi oil during the past week and advised that the contractual volume for one company which was previously reduced was partly reinstated. The new contract is with a United Kingdom company for one million barrels of Kirkuk crude and one million barrels of Basrah Light. The total contracts approved is now 59 for a total of 308,355,000 barrels of crude oil. In the period from 17 to 23 October there were 12 loadings totalling 13.6 million barrels worth an estimated $135 million. The revenue generated from the beginning of Phase IV is estimated around $2.45 billion at current prices. Phase IV runs from 30 May to 25 November, 1998. The 661 Committee approved one additional contract for humanitarian goods under Distribution Plan Three and an additional seven for the Enhanced Distribution Plan. Since the first deliveries in March 1997, 7.5 million tonnes of foodstuffs worth more than $2.4 billion and more than $366 million dollars of medicine and health supplies have been delivered to Iraq under the oil-for-food programme. In addition, more than $200 million dollars worth of supplies for electrical, water/sanitation, agricultural, education, settlement rehabilitation and demining work have arrived in Iraq. Oil Spare Parts Contracts Approved 17-23 October 1998
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Produced for media and public
information – not an official United Nations Document |