AMMAN - Egypt will soon supply Jordan with additional quantities of natural gas after the two sides finalised negotiations over the prices for the industrial sector in the Kingdom, an official at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources said on Thursday.
"An official letter approving the new deal by the Egyptian side will be handed over to the ministry," spokesperson Maher Shaw-abkeh said.
Late September, the two sides discussed the issue during a visit by His Majesty King Abdullah to Cairo.
The first phase of the new deal includes supplying Jordan with an additional 550 million cubic metres of gas a year for industry and the electricity sectors.
According to Shawabkeh, a project to build the gas supply networks for houses and residential units in Amman, Zarqa and Aqaba will also kick off soon.
The deal comes five months after local news reports claimed that Egyptian gas flow to the Kingdom was suspended after the supplier reneged on a pricing agreement.
Officials from both sides dismissed these reports, with the Egyptian side insisting it was committed to the original agreement which stipulates that the price of gas Jordan imports from Egypt will remain without a hike till 2018.
In 2004, Egypt agreed to supply Jordan with 2.3 billion cubic metres of gas a year at preferential prices for 15 years. But the industrial sector in the Kingdom, was not included under the agreement.
As result of the privatisation programme here, the private sector has been taking over many industrial projects. Hence, Jordan sought Egyptian cooperation in including the industries and the private sector in the agreement.
Now 85 per cent of the Kingdom's electricity is generated by Egyptian gas.
Jordan, which imports almost all its energy needs, receives natural gas through a pipeline which passes through the Kingdom to Syria, and is later planned to reach other regional countries. Amman and Cairo signed the pipeline agreement in 2003.
Khalid Neimat
© Jordan Times 2007
