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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
IRAQ: IRIN interview with Oil Minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulum
BAGHDAD, 12 November 2003 (IRIN) - With proven oil reserves of 112 billion barrels, the Iraqi oil ministry for oil is planning to increase pumping. The oil was the only way for Iraqis, under Saddam Hussein's regime, to have access to food and medical supplies, as these were not covered by the UN sanctions imposed for Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.
Under the separate Oil-for-Food programme, Baghdad was allowed to sell limited quantities of crude oil to buy food and medicine for its citizens. Iraq is allowed to spend about two-thirds of its oil revenues on imports.
Under Security Council resolution 1483 implemented on 22 May, civilian sanctions were lifted. It authorised the UN secretary-general to appoint a special representative to work with the occupying forces in rebuilding Iraq and opened the way for the resumption of oil exports, with revenues deposited in a development fund held by the Iraqi central bank.
It also and provided for the termination of the Oil-for-Food Programme within six months, transferring responsibility for the administration of any remaining programme activities to "the Authority representing the occupying powers".
In an interview with IRIN, Oil Minister Ibrahim Bahr Al-Ulum said plans were going well and the recent problem of sabotage of oil pipelines was now under control. But he stressed that Iraqis should have a bigger stake in the industry.
QUESTION: How do you feel about working with foreign companies in the oilfields? [The US company Halliburton has done a considerable amount of postwar rehabilitation work]
ANSWER: Every American and European company working in the oil fields should have a large percentage of Iraqi workers. We have told Mr [US administrator Paul] Bremer that. Depending on the contract and depending on the different nature of the places, it’s very easy to employ local people without jobs. They know how to work with the machines pumping the oil.
Q: Are you satisfied with the amount of oil being pumped at the moment?
A: Our planning indicates we are currently pumping about 1 million barrels per day. In the first quarter of 2004, we will pump more than 2 million barrels - up to 2.8 million barrels - per day.
Q: How will you increase the number of barrels being pumped in such a short time?
A: Some of the refineries that weren’t working are starting to work again. We will introduce the oil of the south refinery [known as the South Company refinery under former President Saddam Hussein]. Before, it was pumping 100,000 barrels per day. Now it will pump 350,000 barrels per day.
Q: Who is handling Iraq's oil contracts now, Iraq or the United States?
A: We are handling our own contracts with Brazil, China, Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom and Malaysia. We will continue to export the oil we have. Some of the contracts continue to the end of this year, from before the war. Americans want to have more of the oil of course, and that depends on the contracts.
Q: Are there enough guards now to watch the oil pipelines that seem to keep getting blown up?
A: There are two ways to protect the pipe: 1. By Iraqi tribes watching the pipe, because they live nearby and are paid to watch it, and 2. US forces and Iraqi police contracting with force protection service guards to receive a salary and watch the pipelines. All recent explosions happened around Saddam Hussein’s home town [Tikrit], so Iraqi forces are searching there every day.
Q: Is it possible to watch such large stretches of pipeline or to keep them from being blown up or sabotaged?
A: We can’t protect all of this pipe unless people want to help us protect it. The area is too large. Attackers use rocket-propelled grenades, bombs, anything they can to try and control this pipeline, even when we surround certain key areas.
Q: How much oil smuggling is still going on?
A: With all of the ships that used to take the oil to other ports, there’s no way to tell. They were all illegal. Only Saddam Hussein or Uday or Qusay (Saddam’s sons) would be able to tell us. They kept it a secret from everyone. There wasn’t any control, so we don’t know the amount, but it was very big. Even after the war, no one was guarding the refinery, so smugglers were getting oil from Basra.
Q: Did you recently crack down on oil smuggling operations, though?
A: Iraqi police and American soldiers are now controlling the sea - for the last month. Within the last two weeks, they caught 80 people and 27 boats, who had been trying to smuggle a large amount of oil. We hope we can stop the losses of the oil. It seems we’ve cut the smuggling by about 80 percent.
Q: Where does the smuggled oil go?
A: Smugglers send what they have to Kuwait. But if they’re caught, the judgment from Kuwait is to put them in jail for two years.
Q: Give us your assessment on how things are going?
A: South Company is starting to work. We’re fixing the companies and the refineries, so there’s plenty of new work. With our first planning, everything is coming online, so we expect to be on track to meet our goal of 2.8 million barrels per day by April.
Themes: (IRIN) Conflict, (IRIN) Food Security, (IRIN) Human Rights
[ENDS]
This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2003
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