- Iraqi crude oil exports have plunged since last year,
with the US importing 90 per cent less, in a sign that American oil companies
have become wary of doing business as debate over military action intensifies.
-
- A UN official told ambassadors of the Security Council
in a closed-door emergency session on Friday that the UN's humanitarian
programme, which relies on funding from Iraqi oil exports, was being crippled
by US oil companies' reluctance to buy crude oil while Washington was heightening
its rhetoric against Saddam Hussein, Iraq's leader.
-
- A year ago Iraq exported 69 per cent of its oil to the
US, but since the end of May this year the share has dived to 16 per cent,
according to UN documents obtained by the FT and UN officials. Meanwhile,
overall Iraqi exports have been halved, dropping from a little less than
an average 2m barrels per day in phase 10 of the oil-for-food deal - which
ran from early July 2001 until the end of November 2001 - to just short
of 1m b/d from the beginning of the current phase at the end of May 2002
until last week
-
- "No company wants to risk it from a public relations
standpoint," said one diplomat.
-
- Buying oil from Iraq via the UN is legal, but the programme
has been tainted by Baghdad, which has charged buyers illegal kickbacks
of 15-45 cents per barrel.
-
- Although big US oil companies such as Chevron, Valero
and Exxon use middlemen to buy the oil from Iraq and claim they are not
involved in the illegal kickbacks, the stakes of being involved in the
programme have risen significantly as the Bush administration has made
clear its aim to remove Mr Hussein, possibly by military force.
-
- The drop means that US companies would also be less dependent
on Iraqi oil supplies, which would almost certainly be interrupted in the
event of an attack.
-
- Iraqi crude oil has become generally less attractive
because of the inconsistency of supply and the strict UN pricing policy
the US and UK instituted to combat the kickbacks. This has jeopardised
the UN's oil-for-food programme, which lets Iraq buy food, medicine and
other humanitarian products for its sanction-strapped people using its
oil revenues.
-
- The programme suffers from a $2bn shortfall that risks
becoming a point of contention among Security Council members as Washington
is hoping for the group's support in its renewed effort to dislodge Mr
Hussein's regime.
-
- The 15 members of the council were unable yesterday to
solve the impasse over whether to change the UN's pricing policy.
-
- http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com
|
