AMMAN -- The Iraqi government agreed to build all the projected oil pipeline that will carry oil from southern city of Basra in Iraq to the Port of Aqaba, Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour told lawmakers Sunday.
According to Ensour, who was speaking at a Lower House meeting, the Iraqi side has the blueprints in place and will start implementation by the end of January.
The agreement was reached during the premier's visit last week to Baghdad, heading a delegation comprising several ministers and top officials.
The two sides agreed to proceed with the joint project to build a new pipeline that will ensure supplying Jordan with 120,000 barrels of oil per day and convey Iraq's crude exports to their destination via Aqaba Port.
Iraq will build huge oil tanks in Aqaba with a capacity of 850,000 barrels per day for exports.
Meanwhile, the premier said he is optimistic that oil exists in Jordan.
He made the remarks during the same meeting, in which MPs continued debate over oil prospects in Jordan, stressing that his "optimism" is just a personal impression he made after a foreign company exploring oil in the south of Jordan invested $250 million in one site, something he described as "promising".
Ten MPs filed a memorandum to the Permanent Office in the Lower House requesting it schedule an entire meeting to continue debate over the issue, "which needs deeper research".
© Jordan Times 2013
