First shipment of Iraqi crude oil expected this week

The first shipment of Iraqi crude oil is expected to arrive this week, Nael Thiabat, owner of Burj Al Hayat Transport and Trading Co., the company that had won the tender to transport 500,000 tonnes of Iraqi crude from Baiji in Iraq to the Jordan Petroleum Refinery Company (JPRC) in Zarqa Governorate, said on Sunday.

All financial and technical matters have been taken care of, including the accreditations from the Jordanian government and the Iraqi ministry of oil, Thiabat told .

He added that once the first shipment of 10,000 barrels arrives, the Kingdom will buy the same amount of oil from Iraq on a daily basis.

Burj Al Hayat Transport and Trading Co. won the oil shipping tender earlier in May, and has since finished obtaining 600 visas for drivers from both countries (300 Jordanians and 300 Iraqis), and will apply for more in the future, according to Thiabat.

The tender for transporting the crude was floated by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources in March in implementation of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between Jordan and Iraq in early February to import Iraqi oil.

Under the MoU, the Kingdom will cover 7 per cent of the Kingdom’s daily demand through the daily purchases.

The agreement stipulates that Jordan will receive 10,000 barrels of Iraqi crude oil with a discount of $16 from the price of Brent crude per barrel, to cover the difference of transport costs and deviations in specifications.

Energy Minister Hala Zawati stressed in early May the importance of implementing the MoU for activating land transport between the two countries, the operation of Jordan’s and Iraq’s truck fleets and the rehabilitation of roads.

Jordanian-Iraqi cooperation in the energy field is not limited to this deal, the minister said, noting that the two countries are working on finalising the necessary procedures for establishing the Basra-Aqaba oil pipeline along with the project for linking the two countries’ electricity grids.