Fuel smuggling stymies Iraq's ability to build

[Barrett808]

Fuel smuggling stymies Iraq's ability to build
Subsidized gas costs 5 cents agallon
By T. CHRISTIAN MILLER
Los Angeles Times
August 17. 2005 8:00AM

ON THE SHATT AL ARAB, Iraq - The rusted skiffs chug down this broad channel lined with marsh, sometimes so laden with illegal cargo that they rise only half a foot above the waterline.

Usually they're carrying diesel fuel, bought cheaply in Iraq and smuggled for a handy profit to countries such as Iran, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

To authorities here in the southern tip of Iraq, the smugglers are no more than a law enforcement nuisance. But for U.S. and Iraqi officials, they are the result of what has become one of the most vexing problems in rebuilding Iraq: cheap gas.

Iraq has long subsidized gas prices, a practice that continued after the U.S.-led invasion. Iraqi gas costs about 5 cents a gallon, while neighboring Kuwait charges 79 cents.

The difference in prices has created a thriving black market, with smugglers moving hundreds of thousands of gallons of fuel every day by land and sea to neighboring countries, Iraqi officials say.

(more)

http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050817/REPOSITORY/508170348/1013/NEWS03

[OKthatsIT]

1. I cant see how these small boats, in plane site, could steal

Hundreds of thousands of gallons a day. This must be a new 'spin' the administration is using to cover up their own theft.