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Ammon News - BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraq on Wednesday resumed oil exports to Jordan, after a four-year halt following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said.

Al-Dabbagh told The Associated Press that Iraq plans to export 10,000 barrels a day by land at a price of $4 dollars cheaper per barrel than market price. Al-Dabbagh refused to say where the oil will be handed over to the Jordanians, citing security reasons.

Al-Dabbagh also said the reason the oil is given cheaper than the market price was that Jordan would be in charge of securing tanker trucks transporting the oil.

Jordan's Energy Minister Khaled al-Shraydeh said last month that the supply would eventually cover the kingdom's daily needs of 100,000 barrels and would be trucked across Jordan's desert border from the northern oil fields of Kirkuk in northern Iraq, accompanied by Iraqi security guards. At the time, he said Iraq would start the exports with 10,000 barrels a day and would later increase to 100,000 barrels a day.

Before the war started in 2003, Iraq covered all of Jordan's oil needs, delivering a portion for free and the rest at about one-third the world market price because of their close ties and Iraq's history of providing its neighbor with inexpensive oil.

When the supply was halted at the outset of the war, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates stepped in for a year to provide the cash-strapped kingdom with oil at prices believed to have been below market levels. Saudi Arabia now provides Jordan with funding to help the country pay for its oil needs.