Was the 750 Mil Barrels legitimate production under the UN oil for food program?
This article specifically addresses these allocations were outside the UN program. Quote:
"Background
The following points should be taken into consideration:
First, MEMRI is not responsible for the accuracy of the details with regard to the names listed or the amount of oil granted.
Second, all names listed in the original were in Arabic. Some of those are transliterated into English phonetically, and may not be precise.
Third, denials by those whose names appear in this dispatch are footnoted.
Fourth, the issuing of vouchers by Saddam's regime may have served two primary purposes:
A: Payments in the form of bribes to individuals and organizations for their support of the regime.
B: Vouchers may have been issued to pay for goods and services that fell under U.N. Security Council sanctions and could not be financed under the "Oil for Food" program. Goods may have included military equipment or military parts, luxury automobiles that Saddam distributed as gifts inside and outside Iraq, and general luxury goods for the benefit of high-ranking officials in the Ba'ath party and government.
Fifth, the voucher recipients sold the vouchers to oil traders, who then collected the oil against the vouchers from the Kirkuk-Banias (Syria) pipeline terminal, which was operating in contravention of the Security Council sanctions. The pipeline carried 200,000 barrels per day of Iraqi oil, which benefited Syria greatly. "