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AMMAN — Jordan’s oil imports from Iraq have been completely halted for over four months due to security conditions in the neighbouring country, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Mohammad Hamed said Sunday.
Hamed told The Jordan Times over the phone that Jordan used to import around 10,000 barrels of crude oil per day from Iraq, adding that instability there brought trucked oil shipments to a complete halt.
The minister, who ruled out import resumption in the near future, said that according to an agreement between Amman and Baghdad, Jordan could raise the volume of oil imports up to 30,000 barrels a day, adding the refining capacity of Jordan’s only refinery kept the levels of oil imports at 10,000 barrels per day.
Jordan’s oil imports from Iraq represent less than 10 per cent of the Kingdom’s daily needs which amount to over 100,000 barrels.
Jordan and Iraq have been discussing the implementation of a project to extend an oil pipeline from Basra in Iraq to the Port of Aqaba.
The $18 billion pipeline, which is projected to transport 2.25 million barrels of oil per day through the Kingdom, would generate between $2 billion and $3 billion a year in revenues for Jordan, according to estimates of Iraqi and Jordanian officials.
The project entails providing the Kingdom with 150,000 barrels of oil on a daily basis at prices the two countries agree on, with the remainder to be exported via the Port of Aqaba.