Iraq takes another $4 off oil for Jordan

BAGHDAD, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- Iraq has knocked another $4 per barrel off the already discounted oil it has contracted to sell to Jordan, though security has delayed the tanker delivery.

Azzaman reports the Iraqi government has reduced the price from $18 per barrel below market price to $22 per barrel below.

The paper says the government is showing favor to the Jordanian government for standing by Baghdad. But Iraq could be assuaging Amman, which has been waiting a year for its needed oil.

Iraq has agreed to supply between 10 percent and 30 percent of Jordan's oil demand, estimated at at least 100,000 barrels per day. Iraq produces about 2 million bpd currently, but security in the north and west has constrained production, and nearly 100 percent of the estimated 1.6 million bpd in exports go to market from Basra.

Last week Iraq said tankers with oil bound for Jordan were en route, but there have been no reports that the shipments have reached the border. The road used goes through heavy insurgent areas.

Iraq is tasked with securing the tankers until the Jordanian border and supervision and ownership is transferred. Jordanian tanker trucks won't go into Iraq under the current security situation.