Jordan lost Egyptian gas and now Iraqi oil has dried up

An informed government source in Jordan has said that closing the borders with Iraq for security reasons has led to the suspension of oil imports to the kingdom. The Iraqis have said that they will compensate the kingdom for the oil which has not been supplied once the border is reopened. The shortfall in supply is in any case being made up by light crude oil supplied by Saudi Arabia. Iraq blames the security situation in Al-Anbar Province for the difficulties.

A spokesman for the Oil Ministry in Baghdad, Assem Jihad, told the media on Wednesday that the supply to Jordan does not exceed 10-15,000 barrels per day. Iraq, confirmed Jihad, does not depend on Jordan for its oil exports as there are other outlets, such as Jihan and Basra which are still operational.

Jordan gets a discount of up to $18 a barrel off the world price and $78 per tonne of heavy fuel, reducing the price by $5 a barrel due to the fact that Jordan bears the costs of transportation and insurance. The daily supply may be increased to 30,000 barrels in future, along with 1,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil.

Iraq and Jordan are bound by a memorandum of cooperation for crude oil and natural gas by means of a joint higher committee that follows the terms of the memorandum and develops appropriate solutions to the obstacles faced by the executive programmes between the two countries.

Report by: Reham Zeidan