Iraq’s State Company for Oil Projects (SCOP) has shortlisted at least six engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) companies to bid for the construction of an oil pipeline through Jordan, one of the country’s most important oil export infrastructure projects.

The list is awaiting approval from the Oil Ministry before an announcement will be made, according to sources close to the scheme.

The long awaited Iraq-Jordan pipeline is on schedule to be tendered in early August and is estimated to be worth more than $10bn.

SCOP, a subsidiary of the Oil Ministry, plans to receive bids in stages, with final priced proposals due by the middle of December. The evaluation and selection of a preferred bidder is expected to be announced by 31 December. Contract negotiations and financial close are planned for 2014.

The Iraq-Jordan pipeline will run from the PS-5A pumping station in Haditha in the west of Iraq to the Port of Aqaba in Jordan. Canada’s SNC Lavalin is acting as the Oil Ministry’s consultant and has drawn up the build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) contract for the scheme.

The pipeline will connect with Iraq’s planned new 650-kilometre strategic oil link from Basra in the south to Haditha, which is being built separately.