UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - The United Nations said Friday that its oil overseers had resolved a disagreement with Iraq which led Baghdad to cut off exports of 2.4 million barrels of crude a day last week.
Spokesman Fred Eckhard said the overseers had recommended that the U.N.'s Iraq sanctions committee accept a new pricing formula proposed by the Iraqi state oil-marketing organization (SOMO).
The proposals would be accepted unless a committee member objected before 6:00 pm New York time (2300 GMT) Friday, he said.
Eckhard said the overseers had "taken into consideration a number of factors."
They noted, "The price of oil has dropped since the initial submission of Iraq's proposals for December," he said.
There had also been "a considerable erosion of confidence in Iraq as a reliable source of oil supply," he said.
Eckhard declined to give details of the new Iraqi proposals.
Last month, the overseers rejected SOMO's proposals as below the fair market value of its crude.
Some diplomats said Iraq was apparently trying to get the U.N. to accept a low price to offset a $0.50 a barrel surcharge that it had asked its customers to pay in breach of U.N. sanctions.
