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extension of the planned 1mn barrel per day interest in the success of this deal was revealed
(bpd) Basra-Aqaba pipeline. by way of an addition to the 2019 agreement
Preliminary work to develop the $5bn con- which covered 10,000 bpd of crude oil supplies.
duit is thought to be nearing, with the Iraqi Last week’s ‘reactivation’ of the deal also included
Ministry of Oil (MoO) expected to announce continued implementation of a 300-km dual-cir-
contract winners by the end of the year. In May, cuit electric antenna transmission line that con-
the ministry clarified that the pipeline inside Iraq nects Jordan’s Risha conversion station and Iraq’s
would be installed according to the engineering, al-Qaim substation. This will provide around
procurement, construction and financing con- 1,000 GWh per year of electricity to Iraq. The two
tract (EPCF) model, while in Jordan it will be governments signed a deal last year that sought
executed under the build-own-operate-transfer to interconnect the countries’ electricity grid as
(BOOT) system. part of a wider ‘Gulf Grid’ as Iraq seeks to wean
The Jordanian government has also approved itself off reliance on Iranian electricity.
a deal with the Iraqi federal government to build The pre-existing bilateral deal was signed in
two oil and gas pipelines connecting the neigh- February 2019 for Iraq to cover around 7% of
bouring countries, Jordanian state-run news Jordan’s oil demand. After lengthy delays, the
agency Petra reported. first batch of Iraqi crude was trucked from Baiji
The project is divided into two phases: the to Jordan via Kirkuk in September that year.
first phase includes installing a 700-km pipeline At the time, it was reported that Jordan would
with a capacity of 2.25mn barrels from Rumaila purchase the oil at a $16 per barrel discount to
to Haditha; the second phase includes installing Brent in order to cover the transport and devia-
a 900-km pipeline in Jordan between Haditha tion in specifications with Iraqi goods exported
and Aqaba with a capacity of 1mn barrels. through the port of Aqaba, receiving preferential
Total cross-border capacity is expected to be rates in return.
1mn bpd of oil and 258mn cubic feet (7.3mn However, in early January, in an interview
cubic metres) per day of gas. with the Iraq News Agency (INA), Alaa al-Ya-
In February, the governments of Iraq and siri, general manager of Iraq’s state oil marketer
Jordan renewed an oil supply contract follow- SOMO, said: “The Oil Marketing Company
ing a meeting between Prime Ministers Mustafa does not have differential prices, but rather fixed
al-Kadhimi and Bisher al-Khasawneh. prices according to the market … Jordan stipu-
The two parties said that “issues of common lated that, according to the Cabinet’s decision,
concern” had been discussed during the meet- the transportation cost was calculated at $11
ing, noting that they had sought “to achieve from Baiji to Jordan, and this is among the items
integration of interests and strategy and in all of bilateral agreements between the two coun-
economic, investment and trade fields.” tries, and the supreme interest is valued by the
Ties between Amman and Baghdad have country and the government.”™
strengthened in recent years and their mutual

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