Ministry waits Iraqi official response regarding renewal of memorandum of understanding for the import of crude oil
Al-Anbat - Sara
Al-Azzeh
The Ministry of Energy
and Mineral Resources confirmed that it is awaiting the official Iraqi response
regarding the renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding, which was recommended
by the Ministerial Council for Energy to the Iraqi Council of Ministers at the
end of last March.
The Ministry's
confirmation on Wednesday was in response to queries regarding the resumption
of the Iraqi oil import process, with a view to completing the necessary
procedures for the resumption of the import of Iraqi crude oil upon the signing
of the memorandum of understanding.
The import of Iraqi
crude oil follows the memorandum of understanding signed between the Government
of Iraq and the Jordanian Government at the beginning of 2021, according to
which the Jordanian side purchases Iraqi crude oil. (Kirkuk crude oil) to meet
part of its annual crude oil requirements and not more than 10,000 barrels per
day 15% on the basis of the monthly Brent crude oil rate minus $ 16 per barrel
to cover the quality difference and tunnel wages.
The actual loading of
the import of Iraqi crude oil began during the month of September 2021. The
import of Iraqi crude oil was interrupted for logistical and technical reasons.
In order to supplement the contractual quantities, talks were reached with the
Ministry of Oil and the Oil Marketing Company of the Republic of Iraq for
understandings to extend the memorandum of understanding for the processing of
crude oil until the date of December 31, 2022
During the visit of Minister
of Energy and Mineral Resources, Dr. Saleh al-Kharabsheh to Baghdad on December
15, 2022, an official request was made from the Iraqi side to extend of a
memorandum of understanding for the second time for an additional period of
three months from the expiration of the first extension on January 1, 2023 to
March 31, 2023 and on the same contractual terms.
From September 2021
until the end of March 2023, the Kingdom imported about 4.5 million barrels of
oil at a rate of about 9,992 barrels per day, which constitutes for about 7% of
the Kingdom's needs.
