Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Iraq update


Iraq oil production decreased in March, along with OPEC as a whole, as Baghdad was pressed by Washington to spend more of its revenues, United Press International’s Ben Lando reports.

Oil flow has been steady at as much as 350,000 bpd according to Iraq’s Oil Ministry. Exports from the south have been around 1.6 million bpd. The rest is consumed domestically.

During hearings this week on Capitol Hill, General David Petraeus, commander of multi-national forces in Iraq, and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker, have been scolded by members of Congress for not requiring Iraq to spend more of its funds.

But wait! There's more!
Iraq, however, not only lacks the institutional capacity to spend the money, but is hampered by politics, fears and reality of corruption, and violence and spends only a fraction of its capital budget.

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