Oil Pipeline with Jordan 'a Priority' for Iraq

By John Lee.

Iraqi Finance Minister Hoshyar Zebari has said that the oil pipeline between Iraq and Jordan is a priority for the Iraqi government.

He told the Jordanian news agency Petra that Baghdad is currently considering the best alternatives to change the pipeline’s course to pass through safer areas inside the country.

The added that an official Iraqi delegation, led by Oil Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi, will visit Amman early next week to discuss new arrangements for the pipeline with officials at the Energy Ministry and the government in the presence of the Egyptian energy minister.

The Iraqi government estimates the total cost of the pipeline at around $15 billion, a project that international companies will implement on a build, operate and transfer basis, Petra added.

The project was originally envisioned as a 1,680km double pipeline that would pump 1 million barrels of oil a day from Basra on the Arabian Gulf to Aqaba Port, and around 258 million cubic feet of gas.

It is expected to provide Jordan with 150,000 barrels of oil per day, while the rest will be exported through Aqaba, generating an estimated $3 billion a year in revenues for the Kingdom.

(Source: Bakken)