BAGHDAD, July 10 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi oil minister said on Wednesday that his ministry seeks to promote Iraqi oil exports through establishment of integrated infrastructure.
"The ministry is keen to develop the oil exports system through implementation of large projects for crude oil pipelines and the establishment of oil platforms, warehouses and integrated infrastructure for this purpose," Thamir al-Ghadhban said in a ministry statement.
According to the statement, the Iraqi cabinet approved on Tuesday two major projects submitted by the oil ministry, one of which is to establish an export oil pipeline with the capacity of transporting 1 million barrels per day (bpd) from the Rumaila oil field in the southern city of Basra to Jordan's Red Sea port of Aqaba.
The second project involves the establishment of an island with oil facilities with capacity of 2 million bpd to facilitate the supply of crude to the giant oil tankers.
"The two projects ... will give Iraq multiple export possibilities and will meet the demands for dealing with emergency conditions," al-Ghadhban said, referring to the possibility of closing the Strait of Hormuz amid the growing tension between Iran and the United States.
Iraq's economy heavily relies on exports of crude oil, which account for more than 90 percent of the the country's revenues.
