April 6, 2010Iraq to Take Control of Oil Revenue by End of 2010, UN Says
Iraq’s government will install a metering system to properly track crude oil production and take full control of the disbursement of revenue from oil exports by the end of 2010, Iraqi and United Nations officials said.
“The action plan and timeline as presented by the government of Iraq is realistic,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon said in a report to the Security Council. Ban said he was “pleased” that the Iraqi government also will name an international auditor to confirm that all oil revenue is accounted for.
The Security Council met in New York to discuss dissolving the Development Fund for Iraq, which was established by the UN as a repository for oil revenue after the U.S.-led invasion to topple former dictator Saddam Hussein. The council also would shut down the International Advisory and Monitoring Board that has served as an audit oversight body for the fund.
Security Council action would remove one of the last vestiges of international involvement in Iraq’s political and economic affairs. The council took the first step in February toward lifting trade sanctions, including restrictions on chemicals such as pesticides, in a bid to boost the country’s economic development.
Ambassador Yukio Takasu of Japan, which holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council this month, told reporters there was “every expectation” that the 15-nation panel would approve Iraq’s plan.
The UN has criticized the Iraqi government for failing to monitor oil production and for what the UN controller said last year were “deficient” accounting practices. Controller Jun Yamazaki told the Security Council today that it was “not possible to reliably determine the volume of all export sales of petroleum.”
AP
