Amman  - The Iraqi government has agreed to raise the discount offered to Jordan on crude oil from Kirkuk to 22 dollars per barrel, Energy Minister Khaldoun Qteishat said Tuesday.

Under a deal signed between the two countries two years ago, Iraq agreed to sell Jordan crude oil at a preferential price of 18 dollars lower than the world market price.

Iraqi oil supplies to Jordan were high on the agenda of King Abdullah II's whirlwind visit to Baghdad on Monday, when he became the first Arab head of state to visit Iraq since the downfall of the former Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein five years ago.

During Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's recent visit to Amman, the two countries agreed to extend the agreement for another three years, but lack of security in Iraq remained a stumbling block that hindered its application.

The accord provides for the supply to Jordan of 10,000 barrels of Iraqi crude per day at preferential prices to be increased gradually to 30,000 barrels per day.

Jordan, with daily hydrocarbon consumption of about 100,000 bpd, used to get Iraqi crude at nearly half price between August 1990 and March 2003. (dpa)