Iraqi Oil Minister Amer Rashid said Sunday he was optimistic an agreement could be reached with the United Nations over a disputed oil pricing formula that led to Baghdad halting crude exports over the weekend.
"We are optimistic and we have absolutely no intention of blocking Iraqi crude exports, currently suspended," Rashid told a press conference.
Baghdad halted on December 1 oil shipments authorized under a UN humanitarian program through the Turkish port of Ceyhan and Iraq's Gulf terminal at Mina al-Bakr.
Baghdad has pinned the blame for the move, which takes around 2.4 million barrels per day (bpd) off the world market, on the United Nations for rejecting its pricing formula for oil exports in December.
In a bid to get round UN control of all oil export revenues, Baghdad slapped a 50 cent premium on a barrel for December. The United Nations said it amounted to a violation of the sanctions regime as the premium would be paid directly to Baghdad and not to the UN-controlled escrow account for Iraqi oil exports.
However, Iraq also offered at the same time a discount to clients, to compensate for the 50 cent premium, and the United Nations said the formula was below a fair market price
Rashid said Iraq had held talks with UN oil officials on Friday and briefly on Saturday. "We are to meet again on Monday which could result in a solution" for the current blockage, he said.
Rashid described the pricing formula as a "logical request, fair and founded on economic principles", adding it was an "absolute right of the sovereignty of Iraq, which wanted to preserve its riches within the mechanisms of the oil market" – BAGHDAD (AFP)
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