Albright slips on Iraqi oil exports to U.S.
WASHINGTON, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, whose
job it is to oversee U.S. foreign policy, is apparently unaware how
important
Iraq's crude oil is to United States.
Albright said on Sunday that the United States did not purchase oil from
Iraq. ``I do not believe so. I don't think so,'' she said on the ABC news
programme ``This Week'' when asked if the U.S. market used Iraqi oil.
She was off by 124.6 million barrels.
That is how much oil the United States imported from Iraq during the first
seven months of this year, according to the latest data from the Energy
Department.
Iraq was the sixth-biggest supplier of oil to the United States during the
period, shipping an average of 585,000 barrels per day. A barrel holds 42
gallons (160 litres) of oil.
Iraq shipped more oil than Kuwait, which a U.S.-led international military
force liberated from an invading Iraqi army a decade ago. Kuwait exported
217,000 bpd of crude to the United States during the seven-month period.
Saudi Arabia was the biggest U.S. oil supplier, shipping 1.442 million bpd.
Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush has criticised the Clinton
administration's energy policy as a threat to U.S. national security. He
points out that the United States depends on foreign countries for more than
half its oil supplies.
While Iraq is bound by strict U.N. economic sanctions imposed after the Gulf
War, it is allowed to sell oil under a special U.N.-run programme to get
money for buying food, medicine and other humanitarian goods.
14:13 10-15-00
