Cursor International executes projects and collaboration activities across several industries.
By John Lee.
Jordan has reportedly agreed to buy 10,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Kirkuk crude oil from Iraq.
According to The Jordan Times, Jordan’s Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Hala Zawati (pictured), said the oil will be bought at a discount of $16 to Brent crude, to cover the difference of transport costs and deviations in specifications.
The supply will cover 7 percent of Jordan’s demand.
(Source: The Jordan Times)
By Osama Al Sharif for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.
Jordan’s King Abdullah’s one-day visit to Baghdad on Jan. 14 was hailed as “historic” by Iraqi President Barham Saleh. It was the first trip to Iraq by the Jordanian monarch in more than a decade, and it came less than a month after the kingdom’s prime minister, Omar Razzaz, paid a visit on Dec. 28 to the Iraqi capital to sign a number of economic agreements.
A royal court statement said the king noted the strong ties between the two countries, affirming that Jordan stands by Iraq as it seeks to safeguard its security and stability, and works to fulfill the aspirations of the Iraqi people toward further prosperity and progress.
It added that the two leaders “stressed the importance of bilateral agreements in the economic, trade, investment, energy, transport and construction sectors.”
By John Lee.
King Abdullah II of Jordan arrives in Baghdad today on an official visit to Iraq for talks with President Barham Salih, and Prime Minister Adil Abd Al Mahdi and senior officials, with a view to strengthening bilateral relations and regional development.
According to a report from The Arab Weekly, the two countries are planning a border industrial zone with a possible 50,000 jobs. It would also facilitate exports of tax-exempted Jordanian goods to the Iraqi market.
In recent weeks, the two countries have agreed a series of measures to increase cooperation between the two countries, including a plan to finalize the framework agreement for the Iraqi-Jordanian pipeline which will run from Basra through Haditha to Aqaba in the first quarter of 2019.
They have also agreed to upgrade the al-Karamah – Terbil Border Crossing.
(Sources: Govt of Iraq, The Arab Weekly)
By John Lee.
Prime Minister Adil Abd Al-Mahdi and Jordan’s Prime Minister Dr. Omar Razzaz have agreed a series of measures to increase cooperation between the two countries.
Following a meeting at the weekend, they announced that, among other steps, they will finalize the framework agreement for the Iraqi-Jordanian pipeline which will run from Basra through Haditha to Aqaba in the first quarter of 2019.
The full (unedited) list of measures outlined in their joint statement is shown below:
In the transport sector:
In the industry and trade sector:
In the financial sector:
In the energy sector:
In the agriculture sector:
In the communications and IT sector:
(Source: Media Office of the Iraqi Prime Minister)
By John Lee.
Iraq could transport up to a million barrels of oil per day through the Jordanian port of Aqaba (pictured), according to a report from The National.
Ali Nazar Faeq Al Shatari, deputy director general for the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) told The National:
“That project is still in place and we’re going to go ahead with it. We need another outlet for our crude oil,”
There has been little detail on the scheme’s timeline for completion or the scope of the project.
(Source: The National)
By John Lee.
A new report from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy says that Iraqi hydrocarbons “will either be exploited by Iran and its allies or used for Iraq’s own benefit, transforming the country into an energy export hub between the Gulf states, Turkey, and Europe. The United States has a strong strategic interest in promoting the latter outcome.”
Authors James F. Jeffrey, a former US ambassador to Iraq and Turkey, and Michael Knights, who has worked extensively on energy projects inside Iraq, suggest that the US should put its weight behind a north-south energy corridor in which Iraq serves as an energy hub between ever-friendlier Gulf states and Turkey, ultimately forming an export bridge to Europe.
They add that Washington should also support the Basra-Haditha-Aqaba pipeline project to bring Iraqi oil and gas to Jordan.
The full paper can be read here.
(Source: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy)
By John Lee.
Jordan has reportedly approved an agreement with Iraq to build a twin gas and oil pipeline between the two countries.
The 1,680-km double pipeline will pump one million barrels of oil a day, and 258 million cubic feet of gas, from Basra to Aqaba.
About 150,000 barrels of the oil from Iraq is needed to meet Jordan’s needs. The rest will be exported through Aqaba, generating about three billion U.S. dollars a year in revenues to Jordan, according to the ministry.
An agreement will be signed soon by the Energy Ministries of both countries.
(Source: Xinhua)
Iraqi Government to Launch a National Contingency Plan to Tackle Oil Spill Incidents
On 22 and 23 October 2017, Ministry of Oil, Ministry of Health and Environment and Ministry of Transport had discussions with the team of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Basra to finalize Iraqi National Oil Spill Contingency Plan (NOSCP) in order to tackle large oil spill accidents both in inland and marine areas.
This comprehensive contingency plan has been formulated, with technical cooperation of JICA, for protecting or minimizing the environmental and social impacts resulted by the oil spill incidents and for satisfying requirements of related international conventions, the regional agreements in the Gulf region, as well as domestic laws and regulations.
The plan systematically integrates individual plans for oil spill response, which were prepared by production sites and regions, in line with a newly-formed national-level policy and strategy. The risk assessments, responsibilities of relevant organizations, commanding and coordinating mechanisms, necessary resources and standard procedures of rapid and effective responses are also incorporated.
Spill of oil and spread of hazardous wastes can harm people’s health and safety, and pollute environment of sea, rivers, land and wetlands. They could also cause not only direct damage to oil businesses like crude oil production and export or oil refinery operations but serious impact on agriculture and port operations. Iraq, one of the largest oil producing countries in the globe, has many oil fields, related facilities and extensive pipeline networks in inland as well as in coastal areas.
Its gradual increase of oil production and related activities has raised environmental and economic risks of oil spill accidents of the country, which has environmentally-sensitive inland water system, wetlands and marine eco-systems. While coping with potential risks of oil spills caused by facilities’ defects, operational failure and accidents, Iraqi Government has developed this first integrated plan of national countermeasures against possible oil spill incidents.
The cooperation to the formulation of the NOSCP is a part of the two-year project of JICA’s technical cooperation. The project also provided trainings and drills in Japan, Iran and Jordan for officials of Iraqi relevant ministries in order to strengthen their capacities in planning and actual responses on site. The Marine Environment Mutual Aid Centre (MEMAC), a Bahrain-based international organization with eight member countries in the region, contributed to the training programs as well.
(Source: JICA)
By John Lee.
A recent report suggests that, in the uncertainty following the recent Angolan election, the Iraqi assets of the state-owned oil company Sonangol are in play.
Writing in Seeking Alpha, Jay Currie says the the Najmah and Qaiyarah [Qayara] oil fields may be transferred to Russian service company Eurasia Drilling, and questions the involvement of two Jordanian consultants and a Hong Kong-based company called United Energy Group.
The full article can be read here.
(Source: Seeking Alpha)
(Picture: Oil Minister Luaibi with Sonangol’s Edson Dos Santos, Baghdad, 30th August 2017)