Iraq earns an additional 293 million euros under UN's oil-for-food scheme

Baghdad earned an additional 293 million Euros over the past week under the United Nations humanitarian oil-for-food program, according to the latest statistics released Tuesday by the UN office overseeing the effort.

The Office of the Iraq Program reported that during the period 20-26 January, Baghdad exported 12.4 million barrels of crude, including some 2 million loaded from the Ceyhan terminal in Turkey, where there had been no activity over the previous three weeks.

During the same period, the Security Council committee monitoring the sanctions against Iraq approved nine new contracts for the purchase of Iraqi oil. There are currently 85 approved oil purchase contracts with a volume of over 210.1 million barrels.

According to the Office of the Iraq Program, the sanctions committee has placed holds on contracts valued at $2.85 billion, including $2.4 billion for humanitarian supplies. Contracts are generally put on hold because they lack technical specifications or because the goods in question have the potential to be used for purposes other than those stated.