RUSSIA: IRAQI OIL MINISTEER HAS SAID THAT BAGHDAD NEVER STOPPED OIL EXPORTS SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE OIL FOR FOOD PROGRAM

Record ID: 344974

  • Title: RUSSIA: IRAQI OIL MINISTEER HAS SAID THAT BAGHDAD NEVER STOPPED OIL EXPORTS SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE OIL FOR FOOD PROGRAM
  • Date: 18th March 2002
  • Summary: (W5) MOSCOW, RUSSIA (MARCH 18, 2002) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. SV RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IGOR IVANOV MEETING IRAQI OIL MINISTER AMIR MUHAMMAD RASHEED, SHAKING HANDS 0.13 2. LV/MCU/SV VARIOUS OF IVANOV AND MUHAMMAD RASHEED SEATED AROUND TABLE WITH OTHER OFFICIALS (5 SHOTS) 0.46 (W5) MOSCOW, RUSSIA (MARCH 19, 2002) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 3. SLV EXTERIOR OF ITAR-TASS AGENCY BUILDING 0.53 4. LV MUHAMMAD RASHEED ENTERING NEWS CONFERENCE 1.02 5. MCU (English) IRAQI OIL MINISTER AMIR MUHAMMAD RASHEED, SAYING: "Iraq has never stopped its exports of the oil market since the beginning of the oil for food programme and to be factual and precise we had never stopped since tens of years ago. What has happened, sanctions were forced on Iraq and the export of crude oil was stopped by other countries."/SV MEDIA LISTENING (3 SHOTS) 1.48 6. LV MEDIA LISTENING 1.52 7. MCU (English) RASHEED, SAYING: "We have always been against rapid price changes, so unless we are forced to terminate our export we will never do so." 2.06 8. LV NEWS CONFERENCE 2.13 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 2nd April 2002 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
  • Country: Russia
  • Reuters ID: LVACDPEAEANL164L2AU0YJHB1IXT
  • Story Text: During a visit to Moscow, the Iraqi Oil minister has
    said that Baghdad never stopped oil exports since the
    beginning of the oil for food program and pledged to proceed
    to do so despite possible U.N. sanctions.



    After talks with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov
    and other top Russian officials on Tuesday (March 19), Amir
    Muhammad Rasheed said that Iraq was committed to maintaining
    price stability.

    Iraq is the only member of the Organisation of Petroleum
    Exporting Countries (OPEC) without a production quota.

    "Even during military aggression against Iraq in December
    1998, oil exports did not stop," Rasheed told a news
    conference at Itar-Tass. Unless we are forced to terminate our
    exports, we will never do so," he said.

    But he added the U.N. practice of retroactive pricing had
    cut crude oil exports by about 20 percent as companies were
    reluctant to load cargoes without knowing prices beforehand.

    The United States and Britain have enforced retroactive
    pricing to make it more difficult for Baghdad to add illegal
    surcharges to its export prices, bypassing U.N. accounts set
    up by the oil-for-food programme.

    Since 1996 Iraq has been allowed to export oil under the
    U.N. programme in exchange for basic humanitarian goods, as
    part of sanctions imposed after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in
    1990.

    Russian companies dominate the trade in Iraqi oil, which
    accounts for about five percent of world exports.

    Russia has voiced concerns that the pricing practice could
    hurt both Baghdad's exports and the flow of humanitarian aid.

    Moscow is pushing for U.N. sanctions against Iraq to be
    lifted, in the hope of recouping Baghdad's Soviet-era debt,
    estimated at up to $8 billion, and signing fresh contracts.

    Russia agreed at a meeting of the U.N. Security Council
    last December to allow changes this year to sanctions if
    Baghdad failed to accept the return of arms inspectors
    checking whether it harbours weapons of mass destruction.

    The changes would provide for a new regime to make it
    easier for Iraq to import food but harder to import goods with
    a possible military application.

    Rasheed said dozens of Russian oil companies participated
    in meetings of a joint commission on trade and technology
    cooperation, but declined to name any potential deals.

    Rasheed said the country's export capacity currently stood
    at 2.3 million barrels per day (bpd), with production capacity
    at 3.2 million bpd



  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register