Fluctuating gas supplies could cost Jordan $1 billion, minister

Fluctuating gas supplies from Egypt could cost Jordan $1 billion by yearend as the Kingdom is heavily resorting to diesel and heavy fuel to generate electricity, said Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Khalid Toukan.

He told Petra that Egyptian gas supplies had resumed a month ago following a spate of attacks on gas pipelines and terminals in the Sinai Peninsula, estimating gas quantities pumped to the Kingdom now at 80 million cubic feet a day.

Total contract volume is 250 million cubic feet per day, the minister noted. Toukan expected that gas supplies will reach 150 million cubic feet by mid October.

He explained that the Kingdom will keep depending on diesel and heavy fuel to make up for the shortages in gas supplies that led the Kingdom to incur heavy losses and costs. A new gas price agreement will be inked soon, the minister said, adding: "We are awaiting the Egyptian side to approve signature of the agreement that was endorsed by the cabinet". In 2010, Jordan imported 97 percent of its energy needs at a total cost of $4 billion, comprising 20 percent of Gross Domestic Product GDP.

Demand on electricity in the Kingdom grows 6 percent every year, official data showed.