Jordan-Iraq agree for build oil a pipeline

Iraq and Jordan have agreed in principle to build a pipeline to deliver crude oil to the energy-poor kingdom from its oil-rich neighbour, Jordan’s ministry of energy said on Wednesday.

“The plan was discussed during Prime Minister Samir Rifai’s visit to Iraq on Monday, and there was an agreement in principle between the two sides,” ministry spokesman and director of planning Mahmud Eiss said.

“Under the project, a pipeline would be built from Iraq to Jordan’s oil refinery in the city of Zarqa,” northeast of the capital Amman.

But Eiss said implementing the plan depends on its economic feasibility.

“It would be feasible only if Jordan imports all of its daily needs of crude oil, which are 110,000 barrels,” he said.

“What would be of great feasibility is to build a pipeline from Iraq to the Red Sea port of Aqaba to export Iraqi oil, while at the same time building a branch line from Aqaba to the refinery in Zarqa.”

Oil-parched Jordan, which imports 95 percent of its energy needs, gets less than 10,000 crude oil barrels a day from Iraq at discount prices.

During his visit, Rifai asked Iraq to increase the deliveries to 30,000 barrels a day, according to the state-run Petra news agency.

Under the ousted Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein, Jordan was entirely dependent on its eastern neighbour for its oil supplies, importing 5.5 million tonnes a year, half of it free of charge and the rest at a preferential rate.

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