A project to build a 1,680-kilometre double pipeline has been agreed by Jordan and Iraq.
The pipeline will provide a domestic supply of Iraqi oil to Jordan as well as output for export through Jordan's Aqaba port. The total investment is likely to be $18bn. Extending from Basra in Iraq to Aqaba, the pipeline will be operational by the end of 2017. It will include a sub-line to Jordan's sole refinery in Zarqa.
Building the Iraqi Basra to Haditha section is expected to start by the end of this year and early 2014 will see a tender being offered for the remainder of the work. Jordan will not bear any of the costs for implementing the project, according to an Iraqi official.
The pipeline is expected to pump one million barrels of oil a day, along with 258m cubic feet of gas and will create an estimated 10,000 jobs in the two countries.
With Jordan's oil requirements at about 150,000 barrels, the remainder will be exported through Aqaba, generating an estimated $3bn in revenues annually to Iraq.
Meanwhile the Iraqi Government has offered to increase exports of crude oil to India. Iran was the second largest exporter of crude oil to the county until US and European Union sanctions led to a decline in exports over the past two years. Saudi Arabia remains the largest exporter of crude to India.