Iraqi Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi said the country has completed the construction of a pipeline that will boost its oil exports from southern ports, Reuters reported. Oil-rich Iraq, which declared victory against Islamic State (ISIS) nationwide in December, is seeking to boost production and exports to fund its reconstruction after years of war.
In 2013, an Iraqi official said his country would pump 850,000 barrels per day down the pipeline to Jordan, which would be enough to cover Jordan’s needs and export the rest via Aqaba. Iraq sits on one of the world’s largest oil reserves — 153 billion barrels by Baghdad’s own estimates. Iraq delivered oil to Jordan for preferential prices under the UN oil-for-food programme during the rule of late dictator Saddam Hussein.