US to run oil industry until authority in place

THE US plans to run Iraq’s oil industry until an Iraqi interim authority can take it over, sources familiar with the evolving plan said on Friday.

It is uncertain how long the US would operate Iraq’s oil industry, the country’s main source of revenue. US officials say they want to turn over Iraqi ministries to Iraqis as quickly as possible.

The UN oil-for-food program is continuing under a new UN resolution, using oil revenues to pay for humanitarian assistance for the Iraqi people.

The Defence Department is considering an advisory board of former US oil industry executives to help run Iraq’s oil industry, the head of which is likely to be Philip Carroll, a former chief executive of Shell Oil Vice President Dick Cheney said on Wednesday.

Iraq’s oil production could rise as much as 50% from 2002 levels.

Last year, Iraq was producing about 2 million barrels of oil per day, down from a high of about 3 million barrels in 1988, according to the US Energy Department.

The country controls more than 112 billion barrels of oil, second only to Saudi Arabia in proven reserves.

Cheney, who was an oil company executive, referred to “an organisation to oversee the functioning of their oil ministry”.

The US has invited representatives of the Iraqi opposition to a meeting on Tuesday near Nasiriyah in southern Iraq.