Chalabi takes over Iraq Oil
Ministry
Al-Jazera-net
December 30, 2005
Ahmad Chalabi, Iraq's deputy prime minister, has assumed direct control of
the powerful Oil Ministry amid growing panic over an anticipated fuel
shortage.
Chalabi, who has been improving his relations with Washington after falling
out with the US administration, was appointed acting oil minister after the
incumbent Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum was given leave, officials said on Friday.
His takeover coincided with long lines forming at petrol stations in
Baghdad, as words spread that Iraq's largest oil refinery had shut down and a
crippling petrol shortage was inevitable.
Chalabi, who supported Uloum for the post when a US-backed government was
formed earlier this year, is already the head of the Oil Council, a
cabinet-level board, and his influence on Iraq's economic and commodities
policy is massive.
Intent on resigning
Uloum told Reuters he was "intent on resigning" while aides to Chalabi, a
former financier, confirmed that he had been appointed acting oil minister.
"I object to the decision of putting me on leave and the mechanism by which
it was done after I objected to the government's decision to raise fuel
prices," Uloum said.
The son of a prominent Shia theologian, Uloum has been directing the
ministry's efforts towards solving fuel shortages triggered by sabotage and
breakdowns that plagued Iraq since Saddam Hussein was removed from power more
than two years ago.
A ministry spokesman allied to Uloum said the country was facing what he
called an impending oil supply crisis.
"Production in the north, centre and south is about to suffocate," he
said.
Falling oil exports and fuel shortages, especially of gasoline, have raised
the level of popular frustration with the performance of successive Iraqi
governments since Saddam's rule.
Supplies hit
Iraq's largest oil refinery, in Beiji, was shut down on 18 December because
of the deteriorating security situation in the region, Uloum said.
"The capacity of this refinery is seven to eight million litres a day [of
petrol] and it is considered one of the vital refineries in Iraq," he said.
That's equivalent to about two million gallons of gas a day.
As word of the shutdown spread through the country, several hundred cars
waited at one of Baghdad's biggest petrol station.
"After the rise in petrol prices, now we have a petrol shortage," said Ahmed
Khalaf, 33.
Ali Moussa, a 51-year-old tanker truck driver, said he and his colleagues
were working in a dangerous situation.
"We demand that the government provide security and protection," he
said.
"The Beiji storage tanks are full and there isn't any shortage of petrol
there. The problem is that drivers are too afraid to go there unless they are
protected."
The closure of the Beiji refinery will affect Iraq and Baghdad in
particular, which has been feeling the pinch from a shortage of refined fuel,
much of which is already imported because of the country's diminished refining
capacity.
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