Jordan Times
Sunday, June 7, 1998
Jordan and Iraq expected to sign pipeline deal soon
AMMAN (J.T.) — Jordan and Iraq are expected to sign a deal soon for
extending an oil pipeline for about 650 kilometres, from the Iraqi oil fields to the
Jordan Petroleum Refinery in Zarqa, at an estimated overall cost of $250 million,
according to Jordan Petroleum Refinery Company Director General Abdul Wahab Al Zu'bi.
Mr. Zu'bi told Al Rai newspaper that several foreign and local firms have submitted bids
to finance the project noting that the cost of the project will be recovered in five
years.
Jordan is this year importing 4.8 million tonnes of crude oil and oil products, according
to a deal concluded last December between the two sides.
Mr. Zu'bi said that the cost of pumping one barrel of oil through the pipeline is $0.96
which is half the cost of transporting the oil by tanker trucks when pumping l00,000
barrels a day.
Mr Zubi said preliminary estimates indicate that the total amount of oil supplied to
Jordan from Iraq since l984 amounted to 24 million tonnes or l80 million barrels.
He noted that the present method of transporting the oil to Jordan is very costly as it
reaches JD 9.5 for every tonne. “The cost of transporting the oil to Jordan between
l995 and l997 for instance cost the country JDll8 million,” he concluded.
According to the Jordanian Iraqi oil agreement for this year the Iraqis agreed to sell oil
to jordan at the rate of $l6.87 per barrel down from the l997 price of $l9.5 per barrel.