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Title: U.N. Official Warns Likely Oil Production Drop in Iraq Source: Xinhua News Agency Date: 02/07/2000 13:32

Subject(s): Executive; Export; Import; Iraq; News; Newsgrid; Oil; Security; United Nations; XIN U.N. Official Warns Likely Oil Production Drop in Iraq

Story Filed: Monday, February 07, 2000 1:32 PM EST

UNITED NATIONS (Feb. 7) XINHUA - A senior U.N official on Iraq warned Monday that Iraq's production of oil was likely to drop due to the lamentable state of its oil industry.

Briefing the United Nations Security Council Monday morning, Benon Sevan, executive director of the United Nations Office of the Iraq Program, said that unless key items of oil industry equipment were made available and commissioned within a short time, Iraq's production of oil was likely to drop.

"Iraq's oil industry continues to be in a lamentable state," he told the 15-member Security Council.

"The independent experts contracted by the United Nations have always noted that their predictions on Iraq's export capacity depend on the timely arrival of spare parts and equipment. That is not happening -- to date around 250 million U.S. dollars of oil sector equipment has actually arrived in Iraq while 288 million dollars worth remains on hold," he said.

Sevan urged the Security Council to increase the oil revenues that Iraq could use to buy spare parts and equipment from 300 million dollars to 600 million dollars.

The Security Council adopted a resolution in early 1998 ,under which Iraq is allowed to use 300 million dollars from the oil revenues to import the urgently needed spare parts and equipment for its oil industry.

Copyright ) 2000, Xinhua News Agency, all rights reserved.

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-- Dee (T1Colt556@aol.com), February 07, 2000

Answers

Oooops! Nothing like a super duper hyper link! LOL

-- Dee (T1Colt556@aol.com), February 07, 2000.

It's OK, Dee. We've all done it. Ya just missed a closing right angle bracket in your tag (before "LINK").

-- DeeEmBee (macbeth1@pacbell.net), February 07, 2000.