Egypt to resume natural gas exports to Jordan

The export of Egyptian natural gas “will be resumed to Jordan within 48 hours and in the same quantities agreed upon earlier,” according to the Jordanian state-funded Al-Mamlaka (The Kingdom) TV channel.

The flow of Egyptian natural gas to Jordan was halted six days ago, the Egyptian-Jordanian Fajr for Natural Gas Transport and Supply Company said on Wednesday.

Amjad Al-Rawashdah, general manager of the Jordanian National Electricity Company, said told reporters that the interruption of Egyptian gas during the past few days was “purely due to technical reasons.”

Sputnik News Agency quoted Jamal Qmoh, rapporteur of the Energy Parliamentary Committee in Jordan, as saying: “Egypt provides Jordan with daily quantities ranging from 35 to 70 million cubic feet of natural gas.”

“Jordan depends on Egyptian gas for 15 percent its electricity, which is a small percentage. We seek to raise this percentage, but the issue is related to cost,” Qmoh said.

Jordan suffered great losses due to the interruption of Egyptian gas imports, a cost of 3 to 4 million dinars daily, he added.

In September 2018, the = of Egyptian natural gas to Jordan was returned in trial quantities in after repeated halts since 2011 due to attacks on the pipeline that linked the two countries.

In April 2019, after the nine-year suspension, the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding whereby Jordan resumed buying and selling natural gas with Egypt.

As per the signed agreement, Egyptian gas supplies were set to be boosted to cover 50 percent of Jordan’s natural gas needs instead of only 10 percent in 2018.

Source: Ahram Online

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