Iraq Says It Will Resume Shipments of Oil
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BAGHDAD — Iraq said Sunday it had decided to resume oil exports after suspending deliveries to protest Israel’s incursion into Palestinian territory.
“It was decided to resume oil pumping after the expiry of the one-month period, which means [Wednesday],” Iraqi television said in a statement following a cabinet meeting chaired by President Saddam Hussein.
Iraq suspended all oil exports totaling about 2 million barrels a day on April 8 to protest Israel’s military offensive in the West Bank, and it called on other oil-producing states to follow suit. None so far has taken similar action.
In a statement, the cabinet criticized other Arab producers for not following Iraq’s lead: “The decision did not find positive response from brethren Arabs who possess the oil and who should have taken similar steps in line with the Iraqi initiative to make it successful.”
Iraq’s state oil marketer SOMO was sending customers official confirmation of the export resumption and asking them to sign up for crude loadings this month.
Baghdad exports oil in a food-for-oil swap, an exception to United Nations sanctions imposed in 1990 as a punishment for Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.
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