Baghdad The economic expert, Raad Twij, confirmed that extending a pipeline between the Basra oil fields and the Jordanian port of Aqaba is a futile issue and costs Iraq great economic burdens.

He said in a statement to the National Iraqi News Agency / NINA /: “The idea of extending an oil pipeline between Basra and the port of Aqaba was an idea that had been proposed previously as a result of the tensions that occurred in the Arabian Gulf, but this matter has become useless and at a high cost to Iraq. It is not economically logical to extend a pipeline with a port more than 2,000 km away, and its cost exceeds one billion dollars.”

The economic expert explained: “This issue adds many economic burdens on Iraq that can be exploited in other aspects that may give Iraq greater benefits.”

The government had recently announced that it had received commercial offers to build the oil pipeline linking Basra and Aqaba.

Meanwhile, Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar announced, during a press conference with Jordanian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Hala Zawati that “the Basra-Aqaba oil pipeline project has entered advanced stages, and legal discussions are under way.”

The Basra Pipeline is a proposed project for the construction of a pipeline to transport crude oil from al-Rumaila field, in southern Iraq, to Aqaba in Jordan.

The length of the pipe is 1,700 km, and the initial cost is estimated to be about $18 billion. The pipeline is owned by the Jordanian government, while the Iraqi government will complete the first phase at its expense, which is the responsibility of the Ministry of Oil.

The second part of the pipeline will carry about one million barrels of oil per day to be exported through the port of Aqaba, while Iraq will establish oil storage stations to coincide with the first phase of the project.

Source: National Iraqi News Agency