Baghdad starts pumping petroleum

Amer Rashid the Iraqi oil minister, announced that Iraq resumed pumping petroleum to the Turkish harbor (Gihan) on the Mediterranean sea and the Iraqi Harbor (El-Baker) on the Gulf, after the United Nations' recent approval of the plan for distributing food.

He added that the petroleum supervisors affiliated with the United Nations ratified the program presented by Iraq, and that they presented it to the sanctions committee for approval.

He said that the Iraqi Oil Ministry launched procedures days ago to invite companies, especially from friendly countries, to get ready to sign contracts with Iraq.

Rashid said there are intensive communications underway with petroleum companies all over the world and that there is great demand for Iraqi oil.

Iraq has been subject to an international embargo since 1990, but the UN oil-for-food agreement allows it to export petroleum billion dollar every 6 months to buy food and medicine.