Page 6 - MEOG Week 35
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MEOG PIPeLInes & transPort MEOG
Iraq crude set to arrive in Jordan
Iraq/Jordan
AFTER lengthy delays, the rst batch of Iraqi crude le Kirkuk for Jordan under a deal that will see 10,000 barrel cargoes arrive daily by truck.
e rst of these le Kirkuk on September 1 and will arrive on September 3, marking the rst Iraqi crude Jordan has received since 2014.
Jordan’s Energy Minister Hala Zawati said the bilateral deal included that the ows should cover around 7% of Jordan’s current demand, buying the oil at a $16 per barrel discount to Brent in order to cover the transport and devi- ation in speci cations. In return, Iraqi goods exported through the port of Aqaba will receive preferential rates.
Zawati said: “ is is the start of a new era in energyco-operationbetweenthetwocountries.” She added that more than 200 trucks, roughly 100 from each country, would be used to trans- port the oil to Jordan’s Petroleum Re nery at
Zarqa.
e country’s Ministry of Energy and Min-
eral Resoures (MEMR) oated a crude trans- port tender in March following the signing
of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Zawati and Iraqi Deputy Prime Min- ister for Energy and Minister of Oil Thamir Ghadhban in Amman and Baghdad in February.
Jordanian firm Burj Al Hayat Transport and Trading was declared the winner and was awarded a deal to truck a total of 500,000 tonnes (3.67mn barrels) of crude from Kirkuk.
Preliminary work to develop the 1mn bpd, $5bn Basra-Aqaba pipeline is thought to be nearing, with Iraqi Ministry of Oil (MoO) spokesperson Assem Jihad saying in July that “investment o ers from international compa- nies” were under evaluation on the basis of estab- lishing “the pipeline in return for a percentage thatwillbedeductedforeachexportedbarrel”.
is follows trips to Iraq earlier this year by Zawati and Jordan’s King Abdullah, with bilat- eral energy relations revealed to have been high on the agenda. e king’s visit was the rst by the monarch since 2008. On September 1, Iraqi Oil Ministry spokesman Asim Jihad said that the test cargoes totalled 3,480 barrels.
UK to place drones over skies of Persian Gulf
GuLf
THE UK is considering placing its drones in the Persian Gulf amid the situation surrounding the detention of a tanker sailing under the British ag, Sky news reported on September 2.
According to the news agency, it could mean a possible relocation of unmanned aerial vehi- cles (UAVs) stationed in Kuwait usually destined to y over Syria and Iraq.
As part of the plan to deploy the drones, an observation mission will be organised as part of helping British warships accompany tankers y- ing the ag of the United Kingdom through the Strait of Hormuz.
The situation around Iran escalated after explosions and res occurred on two tankers in the Gulf of Oman on June 13 a er the alleged
attack. e United States blamed the incident on Iran, supported by the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia. Tehran rejected these allegations.
On July 19, the Stena Impero tanker sail- ing under the British ag was detained by the Iranian side in the Strait of Hormuz – where it remains until today.
According to a statement from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a tanker owned by the Swedish company Stena Bulk was detained “in violation of international rules” and escorted to shore for inspection.
British authorities claimed that Iran, in viola- tion of international law, detained Stena Impero in the territorial waters of Oman and then forced the tanker to enter its waters.
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 35 03•September•2019
