§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) what the total value of(a) exports from and (b) imports to Iraq was in the 12 months immediately before the start of the recent conflict; [171205]
241W(2) what his estimate is of the total value of (a) imports to Iraq and (b) exports from Iraq in 2003–04. [171209]
§ Hilary BennIraq oil exports through the Oil For Food programme (OFF) before the 2003 conflict were in the region of $10 billion per year. Imports, again through OFF, were approximately equal to exports less the administration costs of OFF and 5 per cent. of oil revenues which were set aside as reparations resulting from the 1991 Gulf War. Any trade outside OFF would have been illegal and unrecorded.
Iraq's current oil exports are around 1.7 million barrels per day, which at present oil prices are expected to earn around $16 billion over a year. Reliable data on other exports and imports since the opening of Iraq's borders to trade after the 2003 conflict are not available.