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Jordan keen on signing deal to buy Israeli gas

Arab World Materials 10 December 2014 11:16 (UTC +04:00)
Jordan is keen on signing a deal to purchase Israeli gas via a US firm
Jordan keen on signing deal to buy Israeli gas

Jordan is keen on signing a deal to purchase Israeli gas via a US firm, the state-run Petra news agency reported.

Jordan's Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Mohammad Hamed said importing Israeli gas is not considered a threat to Jordan and will not affect its economy, Xinhua reported.

"Jordan suffers from a severe energy crisis and we are keen on importing gas from several sources," he added in a speech at the Lower House Tuesday.

There were several protests in Jordan over the last few weeks calling on the government not to sign the deal with Israel.

In September, Hamed said Jordan's National Electric Power Company will sign an agreement in November with Noble Energy to buy gas from Israeli fields.

The signing of the deal was delayed, according to the minister.

The Jordanian company signed a letter of intent with the American company to buy Israeli gas, according to Hamed.

Under the agreement to be signed in November, the U.S. company is to provide the Jordanian power company with 300 million cubic feet of gas per day for a period of 15 years, with a total volume of 15 billion U.S. dollars.

Gas supply will commence before the end of 2017, Hamed said, adding that the supply will help reduce the losses of the power company, expected to reach 1.9 billion U.S. dollars by the end of 2014.

Jordan imports annually approximately 97 percent of its energy needs.

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