Jordan Times
Monday, September 24, 2007
Security conditions
still blocking oil shipment
By Khalid Neimat
AMMAN - The first shipment of Iraqi oil was still facing "tremendous security
challenges" Sunday, rendering it impossible to predict when it will arrive in
Jordan, a source at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources said.
Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit said Thursday that the oil shipment from Iraq was
expected to arrive “in a few hours”.
It was due to be delivered at the Jordan-Iraq border, which means "special
security measures are being implemented inside Iraq to guarantee a safe passage
of the shipments", a well informed source told The Jordan Times.
Earlier Thursday, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Khalid Shraideh noted
“the security conditions were likely the major obstacles facing the oil
shipments from Iraq. This is what the Iraqis have been telling us.”
Stopping short of revealing the expected arrival time of the 25 trucks carrying
the first shipment, the source said the Iraqi government’s commitment to
providing Jordan with oil is unquestionable.
Under the 2006 agreement between the two governments, signed during Bakhit’s
visit to Baghdad, Iraq agreed to supply Jordan with 10-30 per cent of its daily
needs of around 100,000 barrels at a discounted rate of $18 below international
market price.
Such a discount is expected to soften the impact of the hike in the
international oil prices on the state budget.
The government said last month it will not raise the prices of fuel derivatives
this year, a decision that has widened the budget deficit, once estimated at
JD385 million, by an additional hundreds of millions.