Amman - Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi said Thursday
that his government was mulling 'a review' of the oil accord that was
signed with Jordan in August 2006 in order to address the impediments
that prevented its implementation so far.
'The Iraqi government is keen on reviewing and reinvigorating the
memorandum of understanding that provides for supplying Jordan with
crude at preferential prices,' al-Hashemi said during a meeting with
leaders of the Jordanian private sector.
'The Iraqi government is going to discuss again supplying Jordan
with oil to know the reasons that so far hindered the implementation
of the memo whether it pertained to the export outlets, transport,
bureaucracy or other issues,' he added.
According to the agreement reached by the two countries in 2006,
the Iraqi government pledged to supply Jordan with 10,000-30,000
barrels of crude per day at preferential prices.
Iraq also agreed to increase crude exports to Jordan gradually to
eventually cover the entirety of Jordan's oil needs, which currently
run at about 100,000 barrels per day, according to Jordanian
officials.
Lack of protection on highways was cited by Jordanian officials as
the main reason that delayed the regular implementation of the oil
accord with Iraq.
To overcome the security shortcoming, the two countries reached an
arrangement in September 2007 for Iraqi crude to be transported by
Iraqi tanks to the Iraqi-Jordanian border, where the shipment could
be picked up by Jordanian tanks.
However, the experiment faltered apparently after it hit security
snags again.
Al-Hashemi, who is on a visit to Jordan in the course of an Arab
tour, said that his country wanted to extend help to Jordan in terms
of oil supplied at preferential prices to compensate it for the
losses it incurred as a result of hosting more than 500,000 Iraqis.
He promised to give Jordanian firms priority in granting contracts
for the reconstruction of Iraq which he said would start shortly
after the restoration of stability in his war-torn country.
The Iraqi Vice president also discussed with Jordanian businessmen
and industrialists means of enhancing the volume of trade between the
two countries, which retreated to only 540 million dollars in 2007
from about two billions dollars before the US-led invasion of Iraq in
2003.
USA
Your Talkback on this Story