Iraq and Jordan have discussed restarting dormant plans for an oil pipeline connecting Basra to Aqaba, Jordan's only port, after the United States encouraged regional countries to find alternative routes through the Strait of Hormuz. Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Safadi and Iraqi Prime Minister Zaidi discussed advancing the Basra-Aqaba project at a meeting on Wednesday, according to Jordanian state television. Also present was U.S. Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy for Syria and Iraq, Tom Barak. The report stated that participants discussed opportunities for trilateral cooperation in several areas of shared economic interest.
The conflict with Iran and the ensuing war of attrition have spurred a race to find alternative routes around the Strait of Hormuz for Gulf oil and other goods.
Proposals from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and other countries focus on diverting shipments to ports in Syria, Turkey, and Iraq. Iran cut off access to the Strait of Hormuz during the war, and the United States also imposed a blockade on the region, with previous agreements to reopen the strait crumbling in recent weeks.
This 1,600-kilometer pipeline project was approved by Iraq in July 2019 but remains unfinished. The project dates back to 2013 when the two countries signed an agreement to build an underground oil pipeline that would pass through Jordan's only refinery in Zarqa, near Amman. The initial design had a capacity of 150,000 barrels per day and cost $18 billion. Originally scheduled for completion in 2017, it has yet to be completed, though neither Jordanian nor Iraqi officials have explained why it remains unfinished. In 2020, officials from Jordan, Egypt, and Iraq met in Cairo to discuss expanding the unfinished pipeline to connect the three countries. Diplomatic relations among the three nations improved under the leadership of then-Iraqi Prime Minister Kadhimi.
According to Jordanian state television, the latest plan for the project will be constructed in two phases: the first phase, approximately 700 kilometers long with a capacity of 2.25 million barrels per day, is planned to connect the Rumaila oil field near Basra with the western city of Haditha; the second phase will run from Haditha to Aqaba with a capacity of 1 million barrels per day.
