Baghdad suspends Jordan oil flow for second month

2026-03-28 - 09:31

Shafaq News- Baghdad Iraq has halted crude oil shipments to Jordan for a second consecutive month, with both sides awaiting a renewed agreement after the previous memorandum expired, an energy source told Shafaq News on Saturday. The pause stems from procedural delays linked to structuring shipments and setting preferential pricing, rather than a broader breakdown in energy cooperation. Under the earlier arrangement, Jordan imported between 10,000 and 15,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Iraqi crude at prices below global market levels as part of a bilateral energy cooperation framework. Earlier this week, Iraqi lawmaker Ali Shaddad noted that Baghdad is exploring several options to secure alternative oil export routes as regional tensions disrupt shipments through the Strait of Hormuz and curtail output from southern oil fields. One immediate option under consideration involves transporting oil by tanker trucks to neighboring countries, including Turkiye, Jordan, and Syria. He underscored the need to accelerate work on key pipeline projects, including the planned Basra–Aqaba pipeline to Jordan, with a projected capacity exceeding 600,000 bpd, and the Iraq–Turkiye pipeline, which can carry about 400,000 bpd. Read more: Iraq's energy vulnerability: When a petro-state has no buffer