Ammon News - AMMAN, Jordan, Jan. 10 (UPI) Jordan wants Iraq to move quickly on implementation of an oil pipeline from the Iraqi port city of Basra, the Jordanian prime minister said.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour met in Amman with Iraqi Oil Minister Abdul Karim al-Luaibi to discuss ties in the energy sector and said his government was interested in the quick development of a pipeline from Basra that could deliver as much as 150,000 barrels of oil per day to the Jordanian shore, the official Jordan News Agency reported Thursday.

The pipeline would stretch from Basra to the Jordanian port city of Aqaba.

Ensour said the private sector should play a role in a project that could eventually extend to Egypt and other Mediterranean countries.

The Iraqi minister said there is the possibility of building an oil refinery and power plant in Aqaba in addition to a pipeline.

In a report last year, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Iraqi oil export capacity is restricted by the lack of infrastructure

*UPI