Israel and Jordan have been holding some unofficial talks about operating the pipeline once the war in Iraq is finished, said Benny Rom, advisor to National Infrastructure Minister Joseph Paritzky.
"It's a bit too preliminary to talk about meetings, [but] there are some underground talks about operating the pipeline," Rom said in a telephone interview.
The pipeline runs 600 kilometers (360 miles), from the northern Iraqi city of Mosul through Jordan to the northern Israeli port city of Haifa.
The British-owned Iraqi Petroleum Company used the pipeline to ship oil from Iraq to British Mandatory Palestine until Israel's 1948 War of Independence. Iraqi forces joined several Arab states then in an attempt to crush the fledgling Jewish state.
"In Israel, the pipeline is in good condition," Rom said. Part of it is still used by the oil refineries and part by the Mekorot water company, he said.
It is also in good condition from Mosul to Jordan because it has been used recently to transport oil from Mosul to Irbid. The only part that needs to be checked is the dozens of kilometers between Jordan and Israel, he added.
According to Rom, Paritzky checked out the possibility of reopening the pipeline and said that doing so could make Haifa into the "Rotterdam of the Middle East." Rotterdam in the Netherlands is a major European port and industrial center.
"Israel is absorbing 12 million tons of petrol each year," Rom said. Currently, it receives all of its oil by ship from former Soviet republics.
But reopening the pipeline and shipping the oil straight from the wells to refineries in Haifa could cut national costs by 20 percent, he said.
Apparently, Jordan is also interested in the deal. Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty in 1994, although relations have been strained since the eruption of Palestinian violence in September 2000.
There is a "good possibility" of doing business with Jordan, Rom said. The prospects are "very bright," he added.
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