Jordan Holds Gas Talks with Doha

Jordan and Qatar have named a joint committee to study ways to import liquefied natural gas from the Gulf Arab state to replace Egyptian supplies disrupted by pipeline bombings, Jordanian state news agency, Petra reported. The technical committee will examine the prospects of supplying Qatari gas to the Kingdom through ships, which will require upgrading Jordanian infrastructure and installing storage facilities at Jordan’s Red Sea port of Al-Aqaba, the Jordanian energy minister said during his visit to Qatar.

Jordan has been forced to resort to more costly diesel oil and heavy fuel to meet its electricity needs after the pipeline delivering natural gas from Egypt has been hit by more than ten explosions in 2011 causing serious disruptions to supplies.

Jordan imports almost all its energy needs, with Egyptian gas accounting for more than 80 per cent of the kingdom's generated electricity.

Jordan's authorities stated that the public treasury of the kingdom has suffered a loss of about $5 million a day as a result of stopping the Egyptian gas supply and is converting all power plants to rely on industrial fuel and diesel. The gas deal between Egypt and Jordan was signed in 2004 and meant to last 15 years. It stipulated the export of 240 million cubic feet of gas a day.

Recently, the two countries have started negotiations to adjust the price of the gas export, but a deal has yet not been reached.