Jordan to resume crude imports from Iraq in April

Jordan says it will resume overland imports of 10,000 b/d of Iraqi crude in early April, roughly two months after flows were halted following the expiry of the initial supply agreement between the two countries.

Iraq had been exporting crude oil by truck from its northern Kirkuk fields to Jordan's only refinery, a 150,000 b/d plant at Zarqa, since the signing of the original one-year agreement on 28 January 2021. But the flows ended in early February after its expiry, prompting the two sides to begin discussions over its renewal.

The Jordanian energy ministry made the announcement late yesterday following a meeting with an Iraqi delegation in Amman.

Jordan said imports from Iraq averaged around 9,899 b/d between 1 September 2021 and 30 January this year.

Iraq had been supplying Jordan with similar volumes of crude for years. But overland shipments were interrupted on 2 February 2014 because of deteriorating security conditions in the Iraqi province of Anbar, and only restarted five years later in September 2019.

The Iraqi government has also recently backed the construction of a 1mn b/d crude export pipeline from Haditha in the west of Iraq to Aqaba in Jordan. The project has been under discussion for a decade, but has never materialized due to cost and financing barriers.

By Ieva Paldaviciute