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Iraq Approves Framework Agreement to Install Basra-Aqaba Oil Pipeline

A worker walks at the Rumaila oil field in Basra, Iraq (Reuters file photo)
A worker walks at the Rumaila oil field in Basra, Iraq (Reuters file photo)
    Amman, Baghdad - Asharq Al-Awsat
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Iraq Approves Framework Agreement to Install Basra-Aqaba Oil Pipeline

A worker walks at the Rumaila oil field in Basra, Iraq (Reuters file photo)
A worker walks at the Rumaila oil field in Basra, Iraq (Reuters file photo)

The Iraqi cabinet approved the framework agreement for the project to install a pipeline to transfer Iraqi crude oil from Basra to Jordan’s Aqaba port on the Red Sea.

Jordanian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Saleh Kharabsheh said his Iraqi counterpart Ihsan Abdul Jabbar informed him of the cabinet’s decision in a phone call and commissioned him to complete the procedures to sign the agreement, al-Mamlaka TV reported.

Kharabsheh and Abdul Jabbar agreed to direct the technical and legal teams to proceed with the necessary steps to sign the agreement.

They further agreed on the importance of building on the outcomes of the fourth trilateral Jordanian-Iraqi-Egyptian summit, which was held in June in Baghdad with the participation of King Abdullah, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi and Sisi.

The project is in line with efforts to bolster bilateral ties and expand cooperation to serve mutual interests by opening a new hub for exporting Iraqi oil.

Under the agreement, Jordan can buy up to 150,000 oil barrels daily to be refined at the Jordan Petroleum Refinery Company in Zarqa city.

The total cost of the project ranges between seven and nine billion dollars, according to Iraqi estimations.

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Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
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Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)

The United States on Thursday called on Israel to extend its cooperation with Palestinian banks for another year, to avoid blocking vital transactions in the occupied West Bank.

"I am glad that Israel has allowed its banks to continue cooperating with Palestinian banks, but I remain convinced that a one-year extension of the waiver to facilitate this cooperation is needed," US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday, on the sidelines of a meeting of G20 finance ministers in Rio de Janeiro.

In May, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened to cut off a vital banking channel between Israel and the West Bank in response to three European countries recognizing the State of Palestine.

On June 30, however, Smotrich extended a waiver that allows cooperation between Israel's banking system and Palestinian banks in the occupied West Bank for four months, according to Israeli media, according to AFP.

The Times of Israel newspaper reported that the decision on the waiver was made at a cabinet meeting in a "move that saw Israel legalize several West Bank settlement outposts."

The waiver was due to expire at the end of June, and the extension permitted Israeli banks to process payments for salaries and services to the Palestinian Authority in shekels, averting a blow to a Palestinian economy already devastated by the war in Gaza.

The Israeli threat raised serious concerns in the United States, which said at the time it feared "a humanitarian crisis" if banking ties were cut.

According to Washington, these banking channels are key to nearly $8 billion of imports from Israel to the West Bank, including electricity, water, fuel and food.