Reuters Business Report Iraq to Keep Oil Exports if US Attacks Thursday August 29, 5:07 am ET
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Iraq would try to keep oil exports running in the event of a military attack by the United States, Iraqi Minister of Planning Hassan al-Khattab said on Thursday.
"Of course we would continue to export our oil," al-Khattab told Reuters in Johannesburg on the sidelines of the Earth Summit on sustainable development.
Iraq in recent months has been exporting about a million barrels daily under a United Nations humanitarian program, an exception to 1990 Gulf War sanctions.
Al-Khattab said a U.S. attack, under consideration in Washington to remove Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, would cause an oil price increase.
"I think it will affect the whole world economy because oil prices would go up," he said.
"Just with the talk of an attack oil has gone up from $23 for a barrel to $30. If they attack Iraq, oil will go up more."