Jan. 2, 2006, 4:53PM
Iraq's exports of oil hit their lowest level in December since the war, as the country's oil minister resigned Monday in the wake of protests and riots over soaring gas prices and lengthening lines at the pump.
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Only 34.4 million barrels were exported in December, or about 1.1 million barrels per day _ the lowest average since Iraq resumed exports after the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, according to figures released Monday.
Almost all the oil was exported from Iraq's southern oil terminals because of continuing sabotage of the country's northern oil facilities.
On Monday, Iraq resumed exports from its southern oil field after more than a week of bad weather and a lack of tugboats to handle tankers, an official who could not be identified for security reasons told Dow Jones newswires.
Oil Minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum said he was quitting over a recent Cabinet decision to raise gas prices between five- and sevenfold to curb black-market sales of relatively inexpensive Iraqi gas in other countries. He said he did not oppose the decision itself, but rather the failure of the government to live up to its promise to reimburse poor families for the price hike.
"This decision will not serve the benefit of the government and the people. This decision brings an extra burden on the shoulders of citizens and caused an increase in the prices of all essential materials," he said.
Al-Uloum's resignation came a week after the government placed him on vacation and replaced him with Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi.
The price hike for gas came Dec. 18, the same day the country's largest refinery, in Beiji in northern Iraq, stopped production because tanker truck drivers refused to make deliveries across dangerous desert roads.
Long lines at the pump have been a fact of life in postwar Iraq, a country awash in oil but with little refining capacity.
But the price hikes and shortages _ causing three-hour waits in some places _ have led to protests in many cities and riots in oil-rich Kirkuk, where police shot and killed four people Sunday as demonstrators burned down a fuel station.
Salah Adnan, a Ministry of Education employee in Baghdad, said he waited about three hours in a 2-mile-long line for gas.
Even after the long wait, customers are allowed a relatively small fuel ration, leaving a tough choice for families who need to drive and run home generators.
In Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, private gas stations have closed in insecure conditions, leaving only government-run stations to sell fuel.
"I closed my station until the end of the crisis," said owner Mohammed Shakir. "Assaults, shootings and the burning of tires are too common."
Some stations in Basra, 340 miles southeast of Baghdad, are now open 24 hours to try to make up for the closures.
"We work day and night, but the crowds keep coming. Some people use violence and force to get fuel, which makes our work very difficult," said gas-station worker Sami Mehdi.
In Kirkuk, about 300 people protested the price hike again on Monday. In Tikrit, some people have spent the night near gas stations in order to fill up before long lines form.
Many in Iraq have been forced to buy gas off the black market, avoiding the long lines but paying prices some 60 percent higher than the highest station prices.
Fuel prices have long been subsidized in Iraq and are still low compared with much of the world.
The price of both imported and premium gasoline was raised last month to about 65 cents a gallon, a fivefold increase. The price of locally produced gasoline was raised about sevenfold, to about 46 cents a gallon.
Iraq's Cabinet said Monday that the Beiji refinery had resumed supplies to Baghdad and other cities on Sunday after the Iraqi army sent more troops to guard the tanker trucks.
"We started to supply the tankers with oil products after the government promised to secure them along the highways," said Ahmed Ibrahim Hamadi, the director of distribution at the Beiji refinery.
The Cabinet also denied that there would be a further price increase, trying to dispel a rumor spreading nationwide.
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Associated Press writer Sinan Sallaheddin contributed to this report.