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3 December 2002
Oil-for-Food Background Information

 

Weekly Update

(23 - 29 November 2002)

Averaging 1.7 million barrels per day, Iraqi oil exports under the United Nations oil-for-food programme totalled 11.9 million barrels in the week ending 29 November – down from the previous week’s high of 17.1 million barrels. Completed in five loadings each from the two authorised terminals of Mina al-Bakr and Ceyhan – with 6.8 million barrels and 5.1 million barrels, respectively, the week’s exports generated an estimated revenue of €260 million (euros) or $258 million, at current prices and rate of exchange. The average price of Iraqi crude was approximately €21.55 or $21.35 per barrel.

With an additional oil purchase contract approved by the United Nations oil overseers during the past week, the total number of approved contracts during the current phase XII of the programme reached 203. This corresponds to 494.7 million barrels of oil, of which 223.4 million barrels have been shipped out of Iraq by the contract-holders.

The Security Council extended phase XII for a further nine-day period, which is now set to expire on 4 December 2002. Estimated revenue in this phase presently stands at €5.3 billion or $5.28 billion. Iraq would need to export about $7 billon worth of oil during the current phase in order to meet its humanitarian budget of over $5 billion.

Since the beginning of this programme on 10 December 1996, Iraq has exported some 3.25 billion barrels of oil at an estimated $38.6 billion and €22.9 billion ($20.9 billion) in revenue. With 72 per cent of the oil proceeds allocated to the humanitarian programme, over $40 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, about $25.6 billion worth of supplies and equipment have been delivered to Iraq, including $1.6 billion worth of oil spare parts and equipment. In addition, $10.6 billion worth of supplies and equipment, for which funds have been available, are in the production and delivery pipeline, including $1.9 worth of oil industry equipment. 

Owing to a cumulative revenue shortfall from phase VIII of the programme, 1,671 approved humanitarian supply contracts, worth more than $3.1 billion, are currently without available funds. The sectors affected by the revenue shortfall are: agriculture with $576 million; food handling with $461 million; electricity with $449 million; health with $374 million; water and sanitation with $360 million; housing with $347 million; education with $291 million; telecommunications and transportation with $252 million.

Out of a total of 4,090 contracts for humanitarian supplies worth about $7.88 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), OIP has approved 2,738 contracts worth about $3.7 billion (47 per cent), after having been assessed by the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as not containing any GRL items.

The approvals include 893 contracts worth about $1.38 billion that had been previously on hold by the 661 Committee and re-circulated and reviewed by UNMOVIC/IAEA under paragraph 18 of the procedures of resolution 1409 (2002).

UNMOVIC/IAEA have categorized 1,212 contracts worth $3.73 billion (47.3 per cent) as “GRL non-compliant”, requiring additional technical information from suppliers to enable final assessment.

So far, 151 contracts worth about $509 million were found by UNMOVIC/IAEA to contain GRL items, of which 14 contracts worth $4.17 million were approved and 43 contracts worth $72.6 million denied approval by the 661 Committee. The remaining GRL-contracts were at various stages of action.

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Produced for media and public information – not an official United Nations Document
For further information please contact Hasmik Egian, OIP - NY, 1.212.963.4341