§ Mr. David StewartTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs who is responsible for deciding on the use of oil assets in Iraq. [174045]
§ Mr. MullinAs agreed in UNSCR 1483, DFI funds are disbursed at the direction of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), in consultation with the Iraqi interim administration, to meet the needs of the Iraqi people. UNSCR 1483 also noted the establishment of an audit oversight body for the DFI—the International Advisory and Monitoring Board (IAMB). The IAMB is charged with ensuring that DFI funds are used in a transparent manner and for the purposes for which they were disbursed.
The Iraqi Ministry of Finance and of Planning and Development Co-operation working with the CPA have published Budgets for 2003 and 2004 which outline the use of oil revenues in public expenditure in Iraq (Budget information can be found on the CPA website at http://www.cpa-iraq.org/budget/). In addition a Programme Review Board (PRB) has been established to enable emergency off-budget expenditure (decisions made by the PRB can be found at http://www.cpa-iraq.org/budget/program_review_board.html).
§ Mr. David StewartTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many barrels of oil have been exported from Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein; what value this represents; and what use has been made of these funds within Iraq. [174046]
§ Mr. MullinAll proceeds from the export sale of Iraq's oil are deposited in the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI), as agreed in United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1483. As of 17 May 2004 approximately US$9.4 billion had been deposited into the DFI from the export sale of oil since 28 May 2003.
Information on the volume of oil exports from Iraq by month can be found on the US Department of Defense website at http://www.defendamerica.mil/. Average crude oil exports for each month since June 2003 to April 2004 are as follows:
1815W
Monthly average crude oil exports from Iraq—
millions of barrels per day
June 2003 0.2 July 2003 0.322 August 2003 0.646 September 2003 0.983 October 2003 1.149
Monthly average crude oil exports from Iraq—
millions of barrels per day
November 2003 1.524 December 2003 1.541 January 2004 1.537 February 2004 1.382 March 2004 1.825 April 2004 1.804 As determined in UNSCR 1483 all DFI funds are to be used in a transparent manner to meet the needs of the Iraqi people. The Iraqi Ministry of Finance and of Planning and Development Co-operation working with the CPA have published Budgets for 2003 and 2004 which outline the use of oil revenues in public expenditure in Iraq (Budget information can be found on the CPA website at http://www.cpa-iraq.org/budget/). Disbursements have included support of food production and distribution programmes, currency exchange programmes, electricity and oil infrastructure programmes, equipment for Iraqi security forces, and Iraqi civil service salaries and ministry budget operations.