The level of oil exports from Iraq under the United Nation’s oil-for-food program has fallen from an average of two million barrels per day in 2000 to under one million barrels per day in recent months, according to a recent briefing by Benon Sevan, head of the UN humanitarian program for Iraq, at the Security Council.
This substantial reduction of Iraqi oil exports has lead to a growing revenue shortfall for the oil-for-food program, with an estimated loss of some $3.2 billion in revenue from the beginning of June until mid-September. Over the past week, however, there has been an encouraging development, with oil export levels averaging 1.9 million barrels per day, at an average price of $25.70 per barrel.
Several factors have contributed to the drop in Iraqi oil exports, including Iraq’s periodic unilateral suspension of exports and the continued absence of an agreement between the Iraqi government and the Security Council’s 661 Sanctions Committee on oil pricing.
Nonetheless, certain sectors of the Iraqi economy are improving despite the UN sanctions regime. The presentation to the Security Council also reviewed the health situation in central and southern Iraq, reporting a decrease in cholera, diphtheria, malaria, tuberculosis and other major diseases, as well as an overall improvement in water quality since 1997.
Sevan also noted there was enough food and that distribution had been good, although there were shortfalls in a few commodities such as vegetable oil and powdered milk. Meanwhile, the preliminary results of a UNICEF-supported nutrition survey show a reduction in the rates of chronic malnutrition in children under five, compared to 2000.
Sevan's reported that while over 6,000 trucks, buses and cars had been imported into Iraq, a shortage of spare parts curtailed development in the country’s transportation services.
While the availability of electricity, drinking water and medicines in many parts of the country are still deficient, the access to, and quality of, education have declined significantly over the past decade, with dropout rates having increased by five percent over the past five years.
Under the UN humanitarian oil-for-food program in Iraq, proceeds from Iraqi oil sales are deposited in an escrow account to be used to purchase food, medicine and other humanitarian goods, while the a sanctions regime remains in place. Iraq has exported more than 3 billion barrels of oil for an estimated $38.6 billion since the start of the program in December 1996. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
