WILLEMSTAD, Curacao (AP) -- The United Nations is trying to decide what to do about a tanker filled with Iraqi oil docked in Curacao, Hasmik Egian, spokeswoman for the U.N. Office of the Iraq Program said Wednesday.
It is believed to be the first instance of a company exceeding its limit on the amount of export oil allowed from Iraq, she said.
Inspectors for the local government determined the Liberian-registered T/T Essex was exceeding the limit allowed under U.N. guidelines by 270,000 barrels, Netherlands Antilles Solicitor General Bernardus Swagerman said.
With oil prices around $21 a barrel, the unauthorized surplus is worth more than $5 million.
Egian would not disclose what company originally bought the oil from Iraq, but she said the company sold the oil to a company called Trafigura, based in Lucerne, Switzerland. Trafigura, who could not immediately be reached for comment, had been bringing the oil to sell to a refinery.
Authorities in Curacao said Trafigura officials denied knowing there was any unauthorized Iraqi oil on board.
The ship's captain reported that thousands of excess barrels of oil were loaded on board after the U.N. monitors -- who watched that the allotted limit was not exceeded -- left the pier, Egian said.
She said it was the first report her office has received of exceeding the limit allowed in an Iraqi oil contract. She said she could not identify the company that bought the oil because the office does not identify its approved contract buyers of Iraqi oil.
Egian said the U.N. Sanctions Committee is to meet next week and decide who will investigate the claims and what penalties it might bring.
Egian said the U.N. program had reports of two occasions, one in May and other in August, of the ship being overloaded at the Mina al-Bakr port in Iraq. Between the trips, the ship was allotted to carry a total of 3.6 million barrels, but exceeded the amount by a total of 500,000 barrels.
The U.N. Security Council imposed sanctions on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
Under the U.N. oil-for-food program aimed at easing the impact of sanctions on ordinary Iraqis, Baghdad can sell unlimited amounts of oil provided the money goes into a U.N.-controlled fund for humanitarian relief, oil industry repairs and war reparations.
Iraq and the United Nations set prices on Iraqi crude every 30 days, taking into account fluctuations in market prices. But according to officials, Iraq has been able to sell some oil below market prices, and obtain back door payments from buyers in return.
Swagerman said prosecutors in Curacao have been working on an agreement that would allow Trafigura to pay for the unauthorized oil through the U.N. escrow account so that it could sell it internationally.
Egian said as far as the United Nations is concerned, no such deal could move forward until the Sanctions Committee decides how to proceed.
