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Journalism of Courage
BANGKOK, JANUARY 10: Iraq has rewarded a Thai rice exporter, a steady shipper of rice to Iraq under a United Nations food for oil programme, with a quota for the import of three million barrels of Basra light crude oil.It also granted state-owned Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT) with a quota for one million barrels of similar crude.
The two firms were offered the oil at normal market posted prices without the additional premiums they would have to pay in the open market, PTT said. Chaiyaporn Rice Co and PTT said on Monday that Iraq had given them the quota to buy the crude within the first half of 2000.
“We have (a) long business relationship with Iraq dating back about 20 years. We have been its supplier of rice and other commodities,” a senior executive at Chaiyaporn, Paiboon Kuansongthahe told Reuters. He declined to disclose terms for the crude offered but said Chaiyaporn would resell it to refineries in the Far East.
Chaiyaporn was now shipping 80,000 tonnes of 10 per cent white Thai rice to Iraq between December and February. The rice was being shipped to Iraq under the UN programme covering the cash-strapped Middle East country’s food imports. “The current shipment is part of the December 17 United Nations resolution which covers a six-month period from last month,” Paiboon said.
Iraq bought 2,14,983 tonnes of Thai rice in 1999, up from 1,60,150 tonnes a year earlier. Senior executive vice-president of PTT,Surong Bulkul told Reuters his company also obtained the Iraqi crude as a goodwill gesture from Iraq. “This represents a favourable government-to-government gesture toward Thailand. We plan to import the crude in one single shipment in February because Iraq has a reasonable surplus at this time,” he said.
Iraq offered the crude oil to PTT and Chaiyaporn at the normal market posted price, which would enable the Thai oil firm to save a premium of about 30 US cents per barrel it would have to pay in the open market, Surong said.
Earlier the Thai foreign ministry statement said PTT would save about $3,00,000 in crude import bills because of the special quota.
