The remarkable story of CPA-imposed price controls on gas in “liberated” Iraq, and how they are causing massive shortages, as explored by Truck&Barter. A few facts from the link:
- Domestic supply of gas is 55% lower than pre-war production (link)
- There are one-quarter to half a million new cars in Iraq (link)
- Offical price is set by the oil ministry (meaning with the Coalition Provisional Authority’s blessing) at 1 cent per liter (link)
- The black market price is 12 times higher
“You also have the effect of hoarding, which I’ve talked about here before, which is, when there’s a sense that there’s going to be a shortage, which I think many Iraqis are experiencing right now, they tend to fill up their gas earlier than they normally would, earlier in the refueling cycle. So for instance, they do it at half a tank or quarter of a tank versus when it’s closer to empty. Again, we are talking to the Ministry of Oil about it. We’re aware it’s a problem. And those are the answers that we’ve heard from the Ministry of Oil, and again, we continue to work with them on it.”Or see the very plain and very official description of the role of the Ministry of Oil: “The Ministry of Oil is responsible for the exploration, production, distribution and marketing of crude oil, as well as the refining and distribution of petroleum products.” Finally, note the whois record of CPA-Iraq.org: Defense Technical Information Center, 8725 John J. Kingman Rd., Suite 0944, Fort Belvoir, VA 22060, US. Some true liberation of oil prices would go a long way to alleviating the suffering of the Iraqi people. Posted by Jeffrey Tucker
