iraq: oil-rich, petrol-poor
WORKERS, JANUARY 2004 ISSUE
DESPITE SITTING on the world's second largest oil reserves, occupied Iraq now finds itself having to impose petrol rationing. The move, ordered by the US-chosen Iraqi oil ministry, comes with penalties of up to 10 years to deter operators in the burgeoning black market.
In early December, according to the French news agency AFP, Iraq imported four million litres of fuel from neighbouring Turkey.