Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum has increased the amounts of gas exported to Jordan to about 350m cubic feet per day (scf/day) in order to provide the Jordanian electricity stations’ needs, compared to 100m scf/day in January.
The Minister of Petroleum, Tarek El Molla, told Daily News Egypt that Egypt exports changeable amounts of natural gas to Jordan based on the needs of their electricity stations.
He added that the gas export contract signed with the Jordanian Ministry of Energy is dynamic and changeable according to the needs of the Jordanian market and the available quantities in Egypt after fulfilling the local needs.
In 2004, the Egyptian government signed an agreement to export 250m scf/day for 15 years at $2.5 per Million BTU, however, the government increased gas prices in April 2012 to $5 per one Million BTU.
El Molla added that Egypt’s resumption of natural gas exportation to Jordan, since September 2018 through the pipelines connecting Egypt and Jordan, has contributed to turning the country into a regional energy centre after achieving self-sufficiency.
The agreement between Egypt and Jordan stipulates that 10% of the Jordanian electricity needs shall be provided by the Egyptian natural gas.
Later, Egypt signed an agreement with Jordan to supply the latter with about 250m scf/day at prices different from the original agreement that had expired.
El Molla said that he is continuously following up the situation with his Jordanian counterpart, Hallah Zawaty, as well as the strategies put forward to provide and diversify the sources of energy.
El Molla pointed out that the Ministry of Petroleum intensifies its efforts in cooperation with foreign partners in order to implement gas exploration development projects in the deep waters of the Mediterranean and the Nile Delta, to contribute to increasing the production of natural gas locally.
