Jordan will this month choose a company to transport 10,000 barrels of Iraqi crude a day by truck, said Fayez Abu Gahud, a spokesman for the Energy Ministry.
“The tenders committee is currently looking into financial bids submitted to the energy ministry and will announce the winning bidder as soon as possible to start the transfer of Iraqi oil to Jordan,” he said by phone in Amman. Supplies from Iraq have been stopped since Aug. 1, pending the selection of a new carrier as the previous contract ended July 31, he said.
Jordan, one of the smallest economies in the Middle East, imports more than 90 percent of its oil and relies on foreign investment and grants to support its budget and current account deficits. The kingdom’s power plants have had to switch to more expensive fuels such as diesel after repeated interruptions in natural-gas supplies caused by sabotage of the export pipeline in neighboring Egypt.