Iraqi oil minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulum returns to ministry

Baghdad (Platts)--9Jan2006

Iraqi oil minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulum, who resigned Jan 2 in protest at
the government's decision to raise the price of refined products, returned to
the ministry Monday and got straight to work, oil ministry spokesman Assem
Jihad told Platts.

     He said Ulum had returned to his office at the ministry and chaired a
meeting to discuss the fuel price hikes that prompted his resignation. 

     The government-sponsored Al-Sabah newspaper said Monday Talabani met Bahr
al-Ulum and urged him to rescind his decision to quit. Bahr al-Ulum resigned
Jan 2 in protest at the threefold increase in the price of refined products,
saying it would hurt low-income Iraqis used to paying subsidized fuel prices
in the oil-producing state.

     Before that, the central government had instructed Bahr al-Ulum to take
leave, and put deputy prime minister Ahmed Chalabi temporarily in charge of
the oil ministry.

     Bahr al-Ulum had said that the fuel price hikes should be scrapped as a
condition for his return. The newspaper said Bahr al-Ulum was still in talks
with the government to settle the issue.

		-- Faleh al-Khayyat, newsdesk@platts.com

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