Jordan, Iraq sign agreement to build oil pipeline

Jordan and Iraq signed an agreement to build a double pipeline with investment of $18bln which will supply Jordan with oil and export Iraqi oil through Aqaba port, said a source from the Iraqi oil ministry. According to director general of state company for oil projects with the Iraqi oil ministry Nihad Moosa, the designs for the pipeline, which will extend from Basra in Iraq to Jordan's port city of Aqaba, will be ready by the end of this year, Xinhua reported. She added that work on the pipeline from Basra to Haditha in Iraq is expected to start before the end of the year, while a tender will be offered early 2014 to build the pipeline from Haditha in Iraq to the Red Sea port city of Aqaba. The Iraqi official said Jordan will not have to shoulder any costs for the implementation of the project, stressing that the Iraqi government is serious about going ahead with the scheme as soon as possible. The 1,680-kilometer double pipeline will pump one million barrels of oil a day from Basra on the Persian Gulf to Jordan's Aqaba Port, in addition to 258 million cubic feet of gas. About 150,000 barrels of the oil from Iraq is needed to meet Jordan's needs. The rest will be exported through Aqaba, generating an estimated $3 bln a year in revenues to the Arab kingdom, according to Iraqi officials. The project, which includes extending a sub-line to Jordan's sole refinery in Zarqa, will be operational by the end of 2017, Iraqi officials said. The project is expected to create about 10,000 jobs in Iraq and Jordan, according to Moosa.