"The Kuwaiti and Saudi crude supplied to Jordan -- 25,000 barrels per day (bpd) and 50,000 bpd respectively -- constitutes government aid and, contrary to earlier reports, is not being sold at market prices," MEES said.

"The deal has been agreed for a three-month period. By receiving 75,000 bpd of oil free of charge, Jordan will be saving 170 million dollars, based on an average market price of 25 dollars a barrel," it adds, quoting authoritative sources.

MEES reported last week that Jordan would be paying for the crude at the full market rate, having failed to secure it at a discount price.

Jordan was wholly dependent on Iraq for its oil, which was delivered daily across the border by a fleet of 600 tanker trucks. Half came free and the other half at preferential rates.

But Amman suspended Iraqi oil imports for security reasons March 23, three days after the war was launched on Iraq to topple President Saddam Hussein.

Jordan's oil consumption stands at 100,000-to-110,000 bpd, and it is now drawing on reserves stored in two tankers at Aqaba, MEES said.

The Nicosia-based newsletter also reports that Iraqi oil exports to the Turkish terminal at Ceyhan and Syria have dwindled in recent days but are continuing intermittently.

At Ceyhan, Kirkuk crude is continuing to arrive sporadically by pipeline despite the war but no liftings have taken place since March 20, it said.

Syrian oil exports have been programmed at 340,000 bpd for April after throughput from the Iraq-Syria oil pipeline was reduced to a trickle on March 26, MEES added.

SPACE.WIRE