Ministry to attract fuel companies to improve level of services

AMMAN — Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Saleh Kharabsheh announced that the ministry will attract “one or two companies” for the marketing of oil derivatives in the first-half of next year, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Sunday.

Inviting more companies to join those currently operating in the Kingdom (Total, Manaseer Oil and Gas and the Petroleum Refinery Company) will enhance competition and improve the level of services provided to citizens, said Kharabsheh.

The ministry will require renewable energy projects (solar and wind), to include energy storage systems to reduce the losses caused by “congestions on networks”, he added.

Regarding the demands of marketing companies for oil derivatives and fuel stations, he stressed that the ministry “is conducting a full review of all the demands of these institutions in relation to the commissions they charge and the size of the investment, while taking into account the interests of all parties, especially the citizen’s”.

In terms of the storage capacity of the oil derivatives sector, Kharabsheh said: “The completion rate in the two storage capacity projects in Aqaba and Madouna reached about 96 per cent. The two projects are expected to start operating in the first-quarter of 2018, to provide a strategic and operational stock sufficient for the Kingdom for 60 days that we seek to raise to 90 days in the future, in line with international standards.”

The storage capacity programme consists of three projects to be implemented in Amman and Aqaba to ensure the security of supply in oil derivatives and provide a sufficient amount of stored energy for emergency situations while developing the infrastructure of the oil sector. 

On the East Green Passage project, aimed at strengthening ties with Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Syria, Kharabsheh said that the ministry is working on the implementation of the project to strengthen the network of electricity transmission in that area.