AMMAN: Jordan has signed a revised natural gas deal with Egypt under which its gas imports will cost three times more than before.
The deal was signed in Cairo on Wednesday, Jordan’s official Petra news agency reported, and comes as Egypt’s military rulers have been under pressure to boost gas prices amid domestic criticism that former President Hosni Mubarak’s regime was selling the gas to Israel and others at below-market rates.
Under the new deal, prices were hiked from less than $2 per 1,000 cubic feet to over $6 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Jordan depends on Egyptian gas to generate 80 percent of its electricity. But the pipeline carrying the fuel between the two nations has been attacked 10 times this year in Egypt, making supplies unreliable.
