en.Wedoany.com Reported - Iraq is accelerating plans for an oil pipeline connecting to Jordan, capable of transporting up to one million barrels of oil per day to the Red Sea port of Aqaba.
This week, Iraq sent a parliamentary delegation to Amman to follow up on the project. The project involves constructing a pipeline from the southern oil hub of Basra to Haditha in western Al-Anbar, Iraq's largest province. From Haditha, Iraq plans to extend the pipeline to Syria, Jordan, and Turkey, and has allocated funds for the first phase of the project. The pipeline from Haditha to the southern Jordanian port of Aqaba could stretch up to 1,000 kilometers, with most of it located within Jordan.
"The Basra-Aqaba pipeline plan is a strategic project for both Iraq and Jordan... The Iraqi Ministry of Oil has taken important practical steps to implement the first phase, the Basra-Haditha pipeline, with the second phase extending the pipeline from Haditha to the port of Aqaba," the official news agency quoted lawmaker Ali Shaddad as saying. The report stated that the project will transport crude oil from southern Iraq to Aqaba with a capacity of one million barrels per day, directly contributing to securing alternative and new export channels.
In April, then-Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Al Sudani said the project would cost nearly $5 billion. He approved an allocation of $1.5 billion for the pipeline in 2026 and stated that the project would be awarded to Chinese contractors under an "oil-for-projects" agreement signed between the two countries in 2019. Last week, Iraq's new cabinet approved plans to increase crude oil exports through the Turkish pipeline from 220,000 barrels per day to approximately 770,000 barrels per day within the next 75 days.
Before Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, Iraq exported nearly 3.4 million barrels of oil per day through the strait via tankers. Nearly 20% of the world's seaborne oil supply passes through this strait. Officials report that oil production has fallen to less than one-third of pre-war levels, with the country's average monthly revenue dropping from over $7 billion to less than $2 billion between March and May. "The pipeline to Aqaba could extend 800-1,000 kilometers, and given the strong political relations between the two countries, this is a good and safe export option for Iraq," said Nabil Al-Marsoomi, an economics professor at Basra University in southern Iraq.
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