The government of Iraq halted oil exports through its pipelines carrying crude to the Turkish port and through the ports in southern Iraq for the next 30 days as an act of protest to Israel’s offensive against the Palestinians, reported AFP.
On a televised address, Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein stated that the halt will continue until the Israel Defense Forces unconditionally withdraw from the Palestinian territories and further encouraged other Arab and Muslim oil producers to follow suit.
The price of oil quickly jumped above $27 a barrel in London with May’s delivery of Benchmark Brent North Sea crude raising to $27.35 from $25.99 on Friday, later dropping to $26.91.
Iraq announced a month long halt of its 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) UN-supervised oil exports last June, as it battled to head off a new regime of "smart" sanctions. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
