Two energy exchange routes between Jordan and Iraq are currently suspended. Iraqi crude oil has not reached Jordan since the beginning of 2026, while Jordanian electricity has stopped reaching the western Iraqi district of Rutba. At the same time, the two countries are discussing the resumption of crude oil supplies and the expansion of their electricity interconnection, with plans to eventually raise its capacity to 500 megawatts.

The suspension does not mean that energy cooperation between Amman and Baghdad has been severed. Negotiations are continuing over the resumption of Iraqi oil supplies, while work and discussions are continuing on the electricity interconnection project and on the possibility of reviving Iraqi oil exports through Jordan to the port of Aqaba.

These developments suggest that the energy relationship between Jordan and Iraq is being reorganized. For years, it rested on two parallel tracks: Iraqi crude moving by road into Jordan, and Jordanian electricity supplying Iraqi border areas.

Iraqi Oil Absent From the Jordanian Market Since the Beginning of the Year

In 2025, Jordan imported around 2.748 million barrels of Iraqi crude oil, according to data from Iraq's state oil marketing company, SOMO. Although supplies were interrupted for three months during the year, average shipments during the months when deliveries took place were close to 300,000 barrels per month, equivalent to roughly 10,000 barrels per day.

The shipments were made under a memorandum of understanding between the two countries, under which Iraq was to supply Jordan with around 10,000 barrels per day of Kirkuk crude, with a permitted variation of plus or minus 15 percent. These volumes covered roughly 7 percent of Jordan's oil requirements.

Data from Jordan's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources show that the oil supply arrangement had expanded in previous years. In 2024, deliveries reached around 3.578 million barrels, transported by more than 14,000 tanker trucks.

The suspension of shipments since the beginning of 2026 therefore affects more than a relatively small volume of oil in the Jordanian market. It also disrupts a cross-border commercial and logistical operation involving hundreds of trucks, transport companies and workers on both sides of the border.

The Type of Crude Has Become Part of the Negotiations

One of the issues behind the continuing suspension concerns the type of crude to be supplied to Jordan.

According to an informed source, the Iraqi side requested a change in the crude specification supplied to Jordan, moving from Kirkuk crude to Basra crude. This prompted the Jordanian side to examine the technical specifications of the new crude and assess whether it is suitable for processing at the Jordan Petroleum Refinery.

At the beginning of this month, Jordan requested the specifications of Basra crude from the Iraqi side to assess its suitability for refining. Basra crude differs in characteristics from the Kirkuk crude that the Jordanian refinery has traditionally processed. Basra crude itself also includes different grades.

Hassan Al-Hiyari, director general of the Jordan Petroleum Refinery, confirmed that discussions are taking place with SOMO to determine which types of Iraqi crude are compatible with the refinery, while the possibility of returning to Kirkuk crude remains on the table.

This means that resuming shipments is not simply a political or commercial decision. There is also a technical question concerning the refinery's ability to process a different type of crude, alongside pricing, transportation and contractual arrangements.

The previous annual contract for Iraqi oil supplies expired on June 26, 2025, before being extended for three months to complete the agreed quantities. The extension expired in December.

Will Jordan Receive Compensation for the Suspended Volumes?

The arrangements between Jordan and Iraq include a mechanism for compensating for quantities that cannot be delivered, and this mechanism has been used during previous interruptions.

That does not necessarily mean, however, that all oil not delivered since the beginning of 2026 automatically constitutes an oil debt owed to Jordan. Determining the volumes subject to compensation requires a formal agreement between the two sides.

If the shipments are calculated on the basis of 10,000 barrels per day, Jordan would normally have been expected to receive around 300,000 barrels per month. The longer the suspension continues, therefore, the more important the question of undelivered volumes becomes in any new negotiations over the contract, an extension or compensation.

The suspension has not caused a shortage of petroleum products in Jordan, largely because the country has multiple sources for importing crude and refined products. The direct impact on fuel availability is therefore different from the impact on transportation, trade and the broader economic relationship between the two countries.

Around 500 Trucks Affected by the Oil Suspension

Iraqi crude reached Jordan through the Trebil-Karamah border crossing, in a road transport operation involving hundreds of Jordanian and Iraqi tanker trucks.

The information available indicates that shipments reached around 300,000 barrels per month under normal conditions before the oil flow was suspended.

Part of the Jordanian trucking fleet, however, did not stop operating altogether. Some trucks shifted to transporting goods from the port of Aqaba to Iraq.

Container traffic figures from Aqaba port show a significant change in the nature of trade moving toward the Iraqi market. During the first seven months of 2026, the number of containers destined for Iraq rose to 37,182, compared with 3,599 during the same period of 2025. That represents an increase of 33,583 containers, or 933.1 percent.

These figures offer a different picture of the impact of the oil suspension. Cross-border trade has not disappeared. Part of the movement of goods has instead shifted toward the port of Aqaba, changing both the route and the nature of the traffic.

Electricity Is Moving in the Opposite Direction

On the other side of the energy relationship, Jordanian electricity has stopped reaching Rutba district.

Rutba had relied on the Jordanian interconnection to meet part of its electricity needs. The district has since been reconnected to Iraq's national grid through Al-Qaim, providing an alternative to electricity supplied from Jordan.

According to Iraqi officials, transmission towers connecting the Risha line to Rutba and Al-Qaim have been completed, allowing the district to reconnect to the Iraqi national grid.

The mayor of Rutba said the Jordanian interconnection had been temporarily suspended until the project's remaining requirements were completed, with a later plan to increase the interconnection capacity between the two countries to 500 megawatts.

Recent Iraqi reports indicate that the Jordanian line was suspended after Rutba was reconnected to the Iraqi grid through Al-Qaim. Discussions are continuing over completing the interconnection at 400 kilovolts, with the possibility of eventually operating the Jordanian link at a higher capacity.

In other words, the suspension of Jordanian electricity does not appear to mean that the broader interconnection project has been abandoned. Instead, Iraq's internal electricity infrastructure is being reorganized.

A Project That Started at 132 Kilovolts and Could Reach 500 Megawatts

In September 2024, Iraq's Central Region Electricity Transmission Company, representing the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity, signed an amendment to the electricity sales agreement with Jordan's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, represented by the National Electric Power Company.

The agreement renewed electricity supplies to Rutba through a 132-kilovolt network connected to Jordan's grid from the Risha area in Mafraq.

The agreement also envisaged a future transition to a 400-kilovolt transmission network once the necessary transmission lines and technical works were completed on both sides.

This is where the current situation presents an apparent contradiction: the line that supplied electricity to Rutba has stopped operating, while the broader interconnection project remains on the agenda. The plan is to complete the necessary infrastructure and eventually increase the capacity, turning what was a limited solution for a border district into a larger component of electricity exchange between the two countries.

Why Is Iraq Looking for New Routes for Its Oil?

The current developments cannot be separated from the disruption that affected Iraqi oil export routes during 2026.

Iraq remains heavily dependent on oil exports, while most of its export capacity is concentrated in the south. Disruptions to shipping in the region have pushed Baghdad to explore additional routes for exporting crude.

In March, Anbar Governorate said its border crossings were ready to facilitate the export of between 100,000 and 200,000 barrels per day through Jordan and Syria by tanker trucks, as part of efforts to identify alternative export routes.

Iraq has also examined other options, including routes through Turkey and Syria, in an effort to reduce its dependence on a single export corridor.

The importance of these efforts is underscored by the role of oil in Iraq's economy. According to an Agence France-Presse report in August 2026, crude oil sales account for around 90 percent of Iraq's government revenues, while Baghdad is seeking to increase oil production in the coming years.

Aqaba Is Back in Iraq's Calculations

The current discussions go beyond the resumption of the relatively small flow of 10,000 barrels per day to Jordan.

Jordanian Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Saleh Al-Kharabsheh said Jordan had received requests to examine the possibility of exporting Iraqi crude oil and heavy fuel through Jordanian territory. The relevant authorities are assessing the proposals based on available infrastructure, particularly storage capacity at Aqaba, the port's capabilities and the terminal designated to receive and export oil and petroleum products.

The proposal has brought back into focus the long-discussed Iraqi-Jordanian oil pipeline project, which is intended to transport crude from southern Iraq through Haditha to Aqaba.

Jordan's Ministry of Energy describes the proposed system as consisting of a pipeline from Basra to Haditha with a capacity of up to 2.25 million barrels per day, followed by an investment pipeline from Haditha to Aqaba with a capacity of one million barrels per day. The project would also include storage facilities in Aqaba with a capacity of seven million barrels.

Under Jordanian projections, the kingdom could receive around 150,000 barrels per day from the project, in addition to transit fees and employment opportunities linked to infrastructure and logistics services.

The project, however, still faces technical, economic and financing questions. In September 2026, the Iraqi News Agency quoted a spokesman for Iraq's Ministry of Oil as saying that the Aqaba pipeline remained under technical and economic study and that its cost and export capacity had not yet been finalized. He also pointed to challenges involving storage space in Aqaba and the capacity of the port's marine facilities.

This puts the project in a very different category from the current tanker-based oil shipments. Limited daily shipments can be resumed through commercial and technical arrangements, whereas a cross-border pipeline requires major investment and long-term commitments.

Iraqi Oil Through Aqaba Is Not a New Idea

The project has been under discussion for years. Jordan and Iraq previously agreed to study a pipeline running from Basra through Haditha to the port of Aqaba, with the aim of providing Iraq with an additional export outlet.

Jordan's Ministry of Energy estimates the overall system at around 1,665 kilometers in length, with a design capacity of up to one million barrels per day for the section extending from Basra to Aqaba. Previous estimates put the project's cost at between $7 billion and $9 billion.

For Iraq, the project's importance lies in opening an additional export route toward the Red Sea. For Jordan, it could provide access to Iraqi crude while generating transit, storage, transportation and other logistics revenues.

But the fact that the project has remained on paper for years also illustrates the distance between a political agreement and actual implementation.

Jordan-Iraq Energy Relations Are Being Reconfigured

For years, the energy relationship between Jordan and Iraq appeared relatively straightforward: Iraq supplied oil to Jordan, while Jordan supplied electricity to Iraq's Rutba district.

Both flows are now temporarily suspended, but neither has disappeared from the two countries' agendas.

Jordan is seeking to resume Iraqi oil supplies, with technical discussions focusing on the type of crude, supply terms and the volumes that could be compensated. Iraq, meanwhile, is reassessing its oil export routes, with Aqaba and Jordanian territory once again appearing among the options under consideration. In electricity, the Jordanian line has stopped after Rutba was provided with an alternative connection to Iraq's national grid, but the broader interconnection project remains in place, with a long-term target of increasing capacity to 500 megawatts.

The developments make the energy relationship between the two countries about more than a temporary halt in oil shipments or an electricity line serving a border district. The two sides are reconsidering transport, export and energy networks at a time when Iraq is seeking to diversify its oil export routes, while Jordan is looking for ways to make greater use of its geographic position, Aqaba port and electricity infrastructure.

The decisive factor will be the outcome of the technical and commercial negotiations. Resuming supplies of Kirkuk crude, or reaching an agreement on Basra crude, requires a formula that works for both the refinery and Iraq's oil marketing company. Turning Jordan into a major transit route for Iraqi oil exports is a completely different undertaking, requiring infrastructure, financing and long-term guarantees.

Between these two levels, the short-term arrangements involving tanker trucks and oil shipments, and the long-term plans involving pipelines and export terminals, Jordan and Iraq are facing a new test: whether energy cooperation will remain limited to temporary arrangements, or evolve into an integrated network for transportation, storage, electricity exchange and Iraqi oil exports.