Iraq's oil buyers

Fox News has a PDF of the companies who purchased Iraqi oil under the Oil For Food program and the companies who supplied humanitarian goods to Iraq.
The list was provided by Paul Volcker who is investigating the Oil for Food program.
His list only includes companies at this time, not individuals.

Fox News OFF UN List (PDF)

Oil For Food Programme
Oil Sales By Buyer Country of Registration
In millions of USD


I noticed something about the list though.
It only lists the US at number 26 on the list of Oil purchases with $482.866 million dollars worth of oil purchases.

If you look at the information on the US Census.gov website, they list purchases that are much, much higher.

In 1997, there was $286 million worth of oil imported.
In 1998, there was just under $2 billion worth of oil imports from Iraq.
In 1999, there was over $4.2 billion worth of crude oil imports from Iraq.
In 2000, there was $6 billion.
In 2001, there was $5.8 billion.
In 2002, there was $3.5 billion.
In 2003, there was $4.5 billion.

That's over $26 billion out of the $64 billion of oil that Iraq sold during the program (about 40%). That's more than any other nation.

A chart of Iraq Oil exports from OPEC's annual statistical bulletin also shows that the US received about 40% of Iraq's oil from 1998-2003.
France is shown as getting about 7% of Iraq's oil from 1998-2003.

Switzerland and Russia aren't on OPEC's chart.
The UK is listed but is not shown as getting any oil.

One of the companies, Alcon Petroleum in Liechtenstein, is listed as processing contracts for a Spanish man named Javier Robert. link
Another company in the UK is called Sinochem International London Oil.
By the name 'Sino', I assume it's a Chinese company registered in the UK.
After reading up on some of the Swiss companies involved, some of them seem to have been set up by foreign nationals, including Russians and at least one Saudi. Swiss Oil

It'd be nice to really track down all of the transactions and find out the people really behind them.

OPEC chart on Iraq's oil exports


[edit on 24-10-2004 by AceOfBase]

Good post.

So either the list is incomplete or the bulk of the money ($4 BILLION!) did not go to companies.

I wonder where all that money went. hmmmm...

Well I think what is happening, is the OPEC site lists the final destination of the oil and not the purchasing country itself.

I guess that's why Russia and others aren't on the OPEC list.
They may have just bought it and sold it directly to another company/country who then took delivery of the oil straight from Iraq.

If that is how it works, it's strange that the census.gov site doesn't list the country it was purchased from because that would be where the money for the purchase would be going to.

[edit on 22-10-2004 by AceOfBase]

You know that the US and other countries not only bought oil from Iraq don't you? Could that be the reason of the discrepancy?

What I would also like to know, is whether those US companies that bought oil from Iraq are subsidiaries of the US government or private companies. Either way these people also went against the sanctions in Iraq and should pay for it, but if the US companies are subsidiaries of the US government, then this is a bigger scandal than it is right now.

[edit on 22-10-2004 by Muaddib]

The figures I posted from 1997-2003 are imports of Iraqi oil only.
That doesn't count the oil imported from other countries but may include Iraqi oil that was purchased from other countries.

I still think it's weird the way the census.gov website lists the trade if the Iraq oil was purchased through other countries.

Regarding subsidiaries, there may be companies that were operating in other countries on behalf of companies and individuals in the US but I doubt they were working on behalf of the US government.

Here's a list of the top buyers of Iraq oil under the program:

Zarubezhneft, a state owned Russian Oil company, accounted for 4.60% of Iraq's oil sales ($2.949 billion). Zarubezhneft

Sinochem International Oil (London) Co., Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sinochem Corporation, accounted for 3.47% of Iraq's oil sales ($2.227 billion). The company is also known as London Oil.
Sinochem Corporation is a state-owned enterprise in China.
An article from 2002 shows that Shell bought 80,000 metric tons from Sinochem in 2001. (link)

A.S. Tupras, accounted for 3.04% of Iraq's oil sales ($1.948 billion).
Tupras is a Turkish oil company that dates back decades.

Alfa Eco accounted for 2.79% of Iraq oil sales ($1.769 billion).
Alfa Eco is a Russian investment firm incorporated in 1989.

Total International Limited accounted for 2.72% of Iraq oil sales ($1.746 billion).
I believe Total International Limited is a subsidiary of Total Fina Elf, a Franco-Belgian oil and gas company. The company is the world's fifth largest integrated oil and gas company. (link)

Machinoimport accounted for 2.64% of Iraq's oil sales ($1.693 billion).
Machinoimport is a State-owned Russian company which has been doing business in Iraq for decades.

Socap International Limited accounted for 2.33% of Iraq's oil sales ($1.497 billion).
I believe Socap International is a part of Total Fina Elf (listed above) because they are mentioned in the statements for that company. consolidated_statements.pdf

Actec, a Russian company, accounted for 2.30% of Iraq's oil sales ($1.476 billion).

China National United Oil Corp (Chinaoil) accounted for 2.30% of Iraq's oil sales ($1.473 billion).
Chinaoil is China's second largest oil-importing company. It is a joint venture between PetroChina Co, (a state run refiner) and Sinochem, China's largest petrochemicals trader (also state-owned).

Alcon Petroleum Limited accounted for 2.01% of Iraq's oil sales ($1.29 billion).
They are listed as being from Liechtenstein.
A Spanish site shows that they were involved in a trade with a man named Javier Robert but I can't find much else on the company.
M/10/59 Contract for Javier Robert by 2 million barrels, exercised through the Swiss company Alcon Petroleum with a benefit considered in 901.350 dollars.(link)


That's 1-10 on the list.
I'll see if I can add to it tomorrow.

[edit on 24-10-2004 by AceOfBase]

Oil buyers list continued...


Number 11 on the list is Fenar Petroleum who accounted for 1.84% of Iraq's oil sales ($1.178 billion). Fenar is not someone known in the oil industry.

This is an excerpt from a Newsweek article on them from 2003:

MSNBC
NEWSWEEK obtained a copy of a secret, U.N.-approved oil-for-food contract, dated June 2002, between the Liechtenstein company Fenar Petroleum and Iraq�s State Oil Marketing Organization, the Iraqi national oil company that U.S. officials say is tightly controlled by Saddam Hussein and his son Uday. The contract lists as Fenar Petroleum�s address the office of a �fiduciary� in Liechtenstein. But the company�s phone numbers are all in London, and the contract is signed on behalf of Fenar by someone named Musbah Ladki, whose name appears nowhere on Fenar�s official corporate-registration papers.

Nobody answers Fenar�s London phones. But NEWSWEEK traced Fenar�s phone numbers to an office building in a swank London neighborhood near Harrods department store and across from Hyde Park. The building�s list of tenants included two Swiss-based oil companies with well-known Russian connections and an office of Algeria�s national oil company. But a security guard at the building told a visiting NEWSWEEK reporter he had never heard of Fenar Petroleum or Musbah Ladki. A representative of the Algerian oil company also said she had never heard of Fenar or Ladki. The security guard said that representatives of the two Swiss oil companies with offices in the building usually worked in Geneva and only visited their London office occasionally to hold business meetings.

Rosnefteimpex, a Russian company, accounted for 1.62% of Iraq's oil sales ($1.037 billion).
Rosneft, a State-Owned Russian company, owned 56.7 percent of Rosnefteimpex's voting shares but they say Rosnefteimpex is not their subsidiary. (link)

Sonatrach, a State-Owned Algerian Oil and Gas company, accounted for 1.49% of Iraq's oil sales ($953 million).
Sonatrach is the 12th largest petroleum company in the world.

Petrovietnam, a State-Owned Vietnamese petroleum company, accounted for 1.48% of Iraq's oil sales ($950 million).
Petrovietnam dated back to 1975 and is wholly owned by the State.

Tatneft OAO, a Russian oil company, accounted for 1.40% of Iraq's oil sales ($898 million).
Tatneft accounts for about 8% of Russia's total oil production.

Emercom Agency (Russia), accounted for 1.40% of Iraq's oil sales ($898 million).

Mastek SDN BHD from Malaysia accounted for 1.38% of Iraq's oil sales ($885 million).
Mastek appears to be primarily an IT outsourcing company and software company.
An article from 2002 says that Exxon purchased oil from Mastek.
Exxon, for example, bought 141,000 metric tons of crude from middleman company Mastek, on Feb. 10, 2001, for delivery to Europe(link)

Lukoil accounted for 1.37% of Iraq's oil sales ($881 million).
Lukoil is a major Russian oil company that accounts for 19% of Russian oil production and 2% of world production.

Italtech SRL accounted for 1.32% of Iraq's oil sales ($846 million).
Italtech was founded in the late 1980s, to build engines for mini-submarines. On 15 July 1999, it was registered it as a "national oil purchaser" under the oil-for-food programme. They oil they sold went to Bayoil, a company set up by a Houston Oil Trader named David Bay Chalmers.

The business plan was simple: Italtech acquired allocations of Iraqi oil, then sold the oil to Bayoil for a small commission. Bayoil would collect the oil and sell it on.

"The money for the letters of credit [to buy the oil] always came from Bayoil; all the oil was passed to Bayoil. We were involved only from the contractual point of view," says the Italtech executive. "We put our name on the contracts in exchange for a commission of 1-2 cents per barrel. Chalmers and Giangrandi did everything." (link)

Tyumen Oil Company (TNK) accounted for 1.27% of Iraq's oil sales ($813 million).
Tyumen is a Russian company founded on Aug.15, 1995.


That's 11-20.
I'll add more to the list tomorrow.

[edit on 24-10-2004 by AceOfBase]

Indian Oil Corporation accounted for 1.25% of Iraq's oil sales ($801 million).
IOCL is the 19th largest petroleum company in the world with a $29.8 billion sales turnover in fiscal 2003.

JSC Zangas accounted for 1.22% of Iraq's oil sales ($785 million)
ZANGAS is the largest Russian company building gas and oil pipes.

AGIP PETROLI SpA accounted for 1.20% of Iraq's oil sales ($769 million).
AGIP PETROLI SpA is an Italian company into Exploration & Production, Gas & Power and Refining & Marketing. Their 2003 consolidated revenues were �51.5 billion.

Coastal Petroleum NV accounted for 1.11% of Iraq's oil sales ($713 million).
Coastal Petroleum NV is listed as being located in Aruba. Coastal Petroleum is a subsidiary of Houston-based Coastal Corp. It was formed to market products from its Aruba refinery off the coast of Venezuela and to buy and sell products in international markets.(link) Coastal Corp was headed by Oscar Wyatt, listed in the Duelfer report as being a recipient of Oil for food vouchers.

Repsol Petroleo SA accounted for 1.07% of Iraq's oil sales ($689 million).
Repsol is a petroleum company in Spain and is one of the 500 largest companies in Europe.

Nafta-Moskva of Russia accounted for 1.05% of Iraq's oil sales ($673 million).

Awad Ammora & Partners accounted for 0.96% of Iraq's oil sales ($617 million).
Awad Ammora, a company from Syria, is alleged to be a front for the terrorist group 'Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.' (link)
Awad Ammora is listed as receiving millions of barrels of oil inl vouchers.

Aredio Petroleum accounted for 0.94% of Iraq's oil sales ($606 million).
An article from February 2004 lists Aredio Petroleum as an obscure French firm. There are deals with Aredio that involve George Galloway, a British politician and a Jordanian trader, Fawwaz Zureikat, whom Mr. Galloway had designated as his personal representative in Baghdad. (link) Mr. Galloway was a recipient of oil for food vouchers from Saddam.
A second article, from January 2004, lists the following:
A contract dated 10 July 2001. The name of the purchasing company is Aredio Petroleum and (Fawwaz Zurayqat), who is Jordanian. The following written remark appears: For Mr George Galloway. The quantity is 4 million barrels.(link)

Samir, an oil company in Morocco, accounted for 0.93% of Iraq's oil sales ($595 million).

JSC Onaco, a Russian oil company, accounted for 0.90% of Iraq's oil sales ($580 million).


That's companies 21-30.

Dunno if this is relevant, but according to a CRS report a lot of the U.S. oil was purchased by non U.S. front companies or from non U.S. companies. This could help explain the total amount discrepancy. Some of the oil may be listed as being sold to a non-US company but ultimately ending up being purchased by a US company.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Also keep in mind that the Volcker report deals with Oil-For-Food programme figures, not actual total oil sales figures outside the oil-for-food programme, so it's possible (breaking sanctions it would seem) that the other figures you cite relate to total oil purchases/sales.

-koji K.

[edit on 25-10-2004 by koji_K]

[edit on 25-10-2004 by koji_K]

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