Iraq's oil exports under the UN's oil-for-food programme were stable last week, totalling 12.3 million barrels, the UN said Wednesday.
The exports, through eight loadings, generated revenue estimated at 252 million euros ($234 million ), the office of the Iraq programme said in its weekly update.
Three new oil purchase contracts for a total of about six million barrels were approved during the week by the UN oil overseers and the Security Council's Iraqi sanctions committee, the office said.
Currently, there are 116 approved contracts awaiting completion for more than 315 million barrels of oil.
Iraq all but ceased exporting oil for seven weeks in December and January at the start of the current 180-day phase of the oil-for-food programme.
Its exports have picked up since then, but remain below the weekly average of 14.7 million barrels recorded during the previous phase.
The office of the Iraq programme has warned that unless exports return to normal, revenue in the current phase could be around $3.5 billion (3.9 billion euros), a level not seen since 1998.
Last week, the sanctions committee extended its "fast-track" vetting procedures to include applications from Iraq for imports for the housing sector.
A list of 26 items for the sector was approved by the committee out of 53 proposed by the office and will now be processed by the office without reverting to the committee.
The committee began fast-tracking applications in March last year on instructions from the Security Council, concerned about the large number of contracts placed on hold, usually by Britain and the United States.
Originally applied to food and educational items, medical goods, and agricultural equipment, the fast-track procedures were later extended to encompass water and sanitation supplies and electrical goods.
Despite these moves, the value of contracts placed on hold has continued to mushroom and now stands at $3.32 billion, compared with about $1.75 billion a year ago.
Of the total now blocked, $2.89 billion were for humanitarian supplies and $432 million for oil industry spare parts and equipment, the office said.
During the week, 20 contracts worth $32.4 million were released from hold by the committee and 37 new contracts worth 53.5 million were put on hold for various reasons.—AFP.
©--Agence France Presse 2001.
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
