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The following article on the BBC website links the oil crisis with the Iraq issue and says that Iraq may gain some bargaining power from it. best wishes, Eleanor Coghill http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/middle_east/newsid_926000/926230.stm An extract: "There is also an underlying longer term concern in the market about Iraq's attitude to United Nations sanctions. Under a UN deal, it is allowed to export a certain amount of oil and use the revenue to pay reparations to Kuwait and to buy food and medicines for Iraq. Baghdad is not happy with the deal, and it could maximise its bargaining power during the coming months by threatening to withhold oil. This would be a substantial threat. Iraq is now producing around three million barrels a day of crude oil. That makes it the third biggest supplier in OPEC, the 11-member oil producers' cartel. Iraqi production is roughly the same as the total increases that OPEC has agreed over the course of the year in an attempt to meet demand and bring prices down. If, in the middle of the northern winter, Iraq were to withhold its oil supplies - or even hint at it - that could have a dramatic effect on the market." -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a discussion list run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq For removal from list, email soc-casi-discuss-request@lists.cam.ac.uk Full details of CASI's various lists can be found on the CASI website: http://www.casi.org.uk