The Executive Director of the
Office of the Iraq Programme, Benon V. Sevan, has written to the Permanent
Representative of Iraq to the United Nations advising that the OIP is taking
immediate steps to release funding for a number of contracts designed to
increase the availability of electrical power in Iraq.
The 17 contracts from Phase III and Phase IV
have been approved by the Security Council's 661 Committee a-nd amount to
$81.71 million dollars. The single largest contract is for $74.9 million
dollars for six gas turbine generators with associated equipment and spares
from China. These follow an earlier electricity contract, approved and
funded late last year, for $70.5 million dollars with a Russian company.
In his letter, Mr Sevan also noted that the
OIP has set aside sufficient funds from Phase IV revenues for the
allocations for $8 million of high protein biscuits and 1240 tonnes worth
$8.7 million of therapeutic milk, provided for in the Distribution Plan for
Phase IV but for which no contract has yet been received by OIP.
Oil exports have continued normally. During
the week from 9 to 15 January, there were twelve loadings totalling 13.3
million barrels exported with an estimated value of $124 million. The total
revenue so far for Phase V is estimated at $700 million.
In the same period, the oil overseers
approved four new contracts for the sale of Iraqi oil. Three of the
contracts were with Turkish companies for 1,800,000 barrels, 3,000,000
barrels and 1,800,000 barrels; all of Kirkuk crude and all destined for
Europe. The other contract was for 2,000,000 barrels of Basrah Light with a
Swiss company bound for Europe and the United States.
The overseers have now approved 72 contracts
for a total of 262,300,000 barrels of Iraqi crude oil (133.4m Basrah light
and 128.9m Kirkuk).
In his letter of 29 December 1998
(S/1998/1233) presenting an expert report on the state of Iraq's oil
industry, the Secretary-General said the spare parts being requested covered
the most essential requirements of the deteriorating Iraqi oil industry. He
asked that the 661 Committee move as quickly as possible to consider and
approve contracts and to review further all applications placed on hold.
During last week,the 661 Committee approved
23 contracts for for oil industry spare parts and equipment with a value of
$6,519,397. Of this number, 17 worth $4,714,688 were released from hold. In
the same period, the Committee put another 6 contracts on hold with a total
value of $2,211,879. This brings the total number of contracts on hold to
141 worth $51,984,527.
OIP received a further 18 oil sector
contracts worth $6,367,025. The total received is now 482 worth $261,143,186
- from the $300,000,000 available from Phase IV revenues for oil spare parts
and equipment. The total number of contracts approved so far is 264 worth
$140,657,301.
