Egyptian gas supply still halted — minister

AMMAN — The government on Saturday said the natural gas supply from Egypt is still completely halted and Egyptian authorities are working on fixing the pipeline.

“We have no information on when the gas supply will be resumed,” Energy Minister Mohammad Hamed told The Jordan Times.

Egypt’s natural gas pipeline, which supplies Jordan, was bombed several times since the ouster of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak in 2011. 

The latest attack on the Arab Gas Pipeline in El Arish was on January 28 this year, which marked the last time Jordan received gas from Egypt.

The minister said the gas cut costs Jordan about $3 million per day, with the country resorting to more expensive heavy fuel and diesel.

“We asked the Egyptian authorities to speed up repairs on the pipeline, as resuming gas supplies will significantly help reduce pressure on Jordan’s energy bill. We hope that will be done soon,” Hamed said.

Jordan, which annually imports about 97 per cent of its energy needs, is signatory to a deal with Egypt under which it is supposed to provide 250 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.

Meanwhile, the minister said a specialised committee is still studying the tariff proposed by Enefit, a joint Estonian-Malaysian consortium, to sell electricity from its 553-megawatt oil shale-fuelled power plant to the government.

“We expect to reply to the proposed price soon,” he said.

Once the government agrees on a price for buying electricity from the projected $2 billion power plant, a power purchase agreement will be signed, paving the way for starting work on the facility, which is expected to be operational in 2017.