Azerbaijan, Baku, March 7 / Trend A.Taghiyeva /
Jordan is seeking to diversify sources of gas to the country and has shown interest in the purchase of Iranian gas, Jordanian Energy Ministry spokesman Mahmoud Al-Eys told Trend on Wednesday.
"The Jordanian side has not received any official proposal from Iran for gas supplies to the country, but if a proposal is received, Jordan will consider this option," Al-Eys said.
Earlier, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources of Jordan Qutaiba Abu Kura said that Iran had offered to begin deliveries of natural gas to Jordan. The minister did not confirm whether the Jordanian side received a formal proposal from Iran.
Iranian Ambassador to Jordan Muslih Mustafa-zadeh told reporters on Wednesday that Iran is interested in exporting gas to Jordan and to this end Tehran will soon send a formal proposal to the country.
Al-Eys said in order to reduce dependence on Egyptian gas, Jordan is negotiating with such countries as Qatar, Saudi Arabia and others. The last explosion on a pipeline transporting natural gas from Egypt to Jordan, forced the Jordanian side to seek a replacement to Egyptian gas more actively, he said.
As for the possible ways of supply of Iranian gas to Jordan, Al-Eys said that at present the most likely option for the supply of Iranian gas to the country is its transportation through Turkey or Iraq.
Earlier Jordanian MP Mustafa Fayad told Trend those losses to Jordan from short delivery of Egyptian gas amounts to $1 billion annually.
This week Egypt again ceased gas supplies to Jordan and Israel because of diversions at the gas pipeline.
In 2011 the Egyptian part of the Pan-Arab gas pipeline repeatedly became the subject of terrorist acts. On Feb, 2011 an explosion hit the gas pipeline's section near El-Arish. Gas supplies to Israel and Jordan were suspended for more than month and were only resumed on March, 16.