Iraqi crude exports dip under UN ‘oil-for-food’ programme

Iraq’s petroleum exports under the United Nations oil-for-food programme registered an average low of about 600,000 barrels per day last week, according to the office running the scheme, which allows Baghdad to use a portion of its crude revenues to purchase humanitarian relief.

The weekly total could rise, however, because a number of vessels that began loading during that period did not complete the process until after it ended, the UN Office of the Iraq Programme (OIP) said.

With a total of 4.1 million barrels sold during the week, Iraq earned an estimated €107 million or $105 million in revenue, bringing to $3.3 billion the total since the current phase of the programme began on 30 May. That figure falls far short of the $7 billion that Iraq would need to export during the current phase, which ends on 25 November, in order to meet its humanitarian programme budget of over $5 billion, since the relief effort receives 72 per cent of the oil revenue.

A shortfall from earlier phases of the programme has left 1,441 approved humanitarian supply contracts, worth over $2.68 billion, without funds, according to the OIP said.