262,000 barrels of Iraqi crude oil imported in October — Energy Ministry

AMMAN — Jordan imported a total of 262,000 barrels of Iraqi crude oil in October at an average of 8,448 barrels per day, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources announced on Monday.

In a statement, carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra, Energy Minister Hala Zawati said that a total of 3.219 million barrels of Iraqi crude oil were supplied to the Kingdom between September 2019 and October 2020.

The minister added that Iraqi fuel trucks were unloaded on the border (back-to-back) in line with the government procedures to curb the spread of COVID-19.

In 2006, Amman and Baghdad signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU), under which Jordan would import Iraqi crude oil daily with a discount of $18 from the price of Brent crude per barrel, provided that the Kingdom bears the cost of transport between Kirkuk and Zarqa.

A new memo was signed in 2019 that resembled the old agreement but dropped the discount from $18 to $16.

Under the new MoU, Jordan imports 10,000 barrels of Iraqi crude oil daily with a discount of $16 from the price of Brent crude per barrel to cover the difference of transport costs and deviations in standards.

Iraqi oil, exported from Baiji in Iraq to the Jordan Petroleum Refinery Company, covers 7 per cent of the Kingdom’s daily demand.