AMMAN –– Jordan’s oil imports from Iraq have been halted due to security conditions in Anbar province, an Iraqi official said Wednesday.
An official at the Iraqi Oil Marketing Company, a government-owned agency, told The Jordan Times over the phone that both Amman and Baghdad agreed to suspend trucked oil shipments until security in the province –– which borders the Kingdom in the eastern region –– is restored.
The official, who requested anonymity, declined to give further details on when the shipments stopped, noting that the oil ministry had issued a statement on the issue.
In a statement carried by Iraqi news agencies, Asim Jihad, spokesperson for the Iraqi oil ministry, said trucked shipments of crude oil from Iraq to Jordan have come to a complete halt because of “deteriorating security in Anbar where militants control several parts of the province”.
He estimated the volume of oil shipments at between 10,000 and 12,000 barrels of crude per day.
Jordan’s oil imports from Iraq represent around 10 per cent of the Kingdom’s daily needs which amount to around 100,000 barrels.
Jordan and Iraq have been discussing the implementation of a project to extend an oil pipeline from Basra in Iraq to Jordan’s port city 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 that the two countries agree on, with the remainder to be exported via the Port of Aqaba.
