IRAQI OIL SMUGGLING -- A Thriving Business

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

The US is attempting to stop Iraqi oil smuggling. Tell me that employing the US Navy, for the purpose of halting oil smugglers, isn't a clue the US is worried about available supplies to legitimate markets. This is just a little bit more to think about....

Washington, Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. ordered the Navy to increase patrols of the Persian Gulf, as Russia demanded the immediate release of a Russian tanker suspected of carrying smuggled Iraqi oil.

The stepped-up Navy patrols are aimed at preventing an escalation of smuggling in violation of United Nations sanctions, a senior U.S. Defense Department official told a briefing for reporters on the condition his name not be used.

The U.S. is concentrating its patrols in the gulf's northern waters, using three Navy vessels and Navy SEAL commandos patrolling in rigid-hulled rubberized craft, the official said.

Oil samples from the detained Russian tanker are arriving in the U.S. today for analysis to determine whether they are from Iraq, the official said. The analysis should be completed by tomorrow. U.S. officials say they won't release the tanker until the analysis is complete.

``This is a process which is undertaken to clarify the facts: whether or not this ship is in violation of the sanctions or not,'' U.S. Ambassador to Russia James Collins said at a press conference in Moscow. ``I assume the Russian government, frankly, will be interested in the results of those analyses.''

Russia wants the tanker released immediately. ``We are ready to conduct the necessary investigation, but only after the immediate release of the tanker,'' Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said today, Russia's Interfax news agency reported.

Could Hurt Iraq

The incident could weigh on Iraqi efforts to get the sanctions lifted.

``There's quite a bit of evidence that the oil came from Iraq,'' because the ship sailed from Iraqi waters and carried gasoil, a product typical of Iraq, said Commander Jeff Gradeck of the Dubai-based Multinational Maritime Interception Force, which enforces the 10-year-old embargo against Iraq.

The tanker, the Volgoneft, was moved to neutral waters about 13 miles off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, Russia's Itar- Tass news agency reported.

The tanker is a 6,000-ton coastal vessel common to the Persian Gulf, but one-fifth the size of the tankers typically used to carry oil across the Atlantic. A tanker this size can carry about 40,070 barrels of gasoil.

The last time a Russian-flagged vessel was boarded was on Aug. 31, 1998. The last time there was an actual diversion of a Russian-flagged vessel was on Jan. 5, 1998.

Since 1996 the UN has permitted Iraq to sell some oil for food and other humanitarian needs of its 22.4 million citizens. Last year Iraq legally exported more than 3 million barrels of oil a day, or about 3 percent of the world's supply.

Feb/04/2000 11:54

-- (cashtradr@aol.com), February 04, 2000


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