Iraqi oil exports slip further under UN ‘oil-for-food’ scheme

Baghdad’s exports under the United Nations “oil-for-food” programme continued to drop over the past week, according to the office overseeing the effort, which allows Iraq to use a portion of its petroleum revenues to purchase humanitarian relief.

In the seven-day period ending 15 February, Iraq exported 10.6 million barrels of oil, continuing a downward trend from 11.5 million the previous week and over 13 million the week before that, the Office of the Iraq Programme reported.

With oil selling at an average price of €20.40 (euros) or $17.85 per barrel, Baghdad earned an estimated €217 million or $189 million in revenue during the most recent period.

The level of “holds” placed on humanitarian supply contracts reached an all-time high of over $5.3 billion. That figure includes 44 new contracts worth $119.5 million that were put on hold over the past week, the Office said. Contracts are generally put on hold because of the lack adequate information on their end-use in Iraq.