13 November 2006
AMMAN (JT) -- The Jordan Cement Factories Company's (JCFC) Rashidiyeh plant, near Tafileh, will be run almost totally on natural gas imported from Egypt in two years. The company will install its internal network of gas pipes early next year, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Sunday. By 2008, more than 80 per cent of the factory's operations will be using the cheaper and cleaner natural gas as a fuel. At a later stage, the plan will be applied to the Fuheis plant, located northwest of Amman.
Authorities have been encouraging local industries to depend on Egyptian gas, which passes through Jordan via a regional network, especially since the prices of fuel derivatives are expected to be floated next year, pushing energy costs to almost unaffordable levels that would affect the competitiveness of these industries. The government has signed a renewable deal with Cairo to import the strategic commodity at a fixed price for 15 years. In early 2005, the Environment Ministry banned the JCFC from using petcoke in cement production, which the company had decided to use as a cheaper substitute for fuel.
AMMAN (JT) -- The Jordan Cement Factories Company's (JCFC) Rashidiyeh plant, near Tafileh, will be run almost totally on natural gas imported from Egypt in two years. The company will install its internal network of gas pipes early next year, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Sunday. By 2008, more than 80 per cent of the factory's operations will be using the cheaper and cleaner natural gas as a fuel. At a later stage, the plan will be applied to the Fuheis plant, located northwest of Amman.
Authorities have been encouraging local industries to depend on Egyptian gas, which passes through Jordan via a regional network, especially since the prices of fuel derivatives are expected to be floated next year, pushing energy costs to almost unaffordable levels that would affect the competitiveness of these industries. The government has signed a renewable deal with Cairo to import the strategic commodity at a fixed price for 15 years. In early 2005, the Environment Ministry banned the JCFC from using petcoke in cement production, which the company had decided to use as a cheaper substitute for fuel.
© Jordan Times 2006
