Jordan to Increase Gas Imports from Egypt

A plant's gas tanks are seen at the desert road of Suez city north of Cairo, Egypt. (Reuters file photo)
A plant's gas tanks are seen at the desert road of Suez city north of Cairo, Egypt. (Reuters file photo)
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Jordan to Increase Gas Imports from Egypt

A plant's gas tanks are seen at the desert road of Suez city north of Cairo, Egypt. (Reuters file photo)
A plant's gas tanks are seen at the desert road of Suez city north of Cairo, Egypt. (Reuters file photo)

Jordan announced on Tuesday that it was seeking to increase its natural gas imports from Egypt to cover a third of its demands.

Hala Zawati, Jordanian minister of energy and mineral resources, estimated Jordan’s gas demands in 2019 at around 350 million cubic feet per day.

“Jordan started receiving natural gas from Egypt since September. It’s on (an) experimental basis for the pipeline but we hope in the beginning of 2019 to increase these amounts,” she told reporters.

Jordan began importing natural gas from Egypt two months ago but increasing imports significantly would depend on construction of a pipeline between Jordan and Iraq which has yet to be built.

“We have not yet agreed with Egypt. Now there are negotiations on how much will be pumped but we hope at least one third of the country’s requirements will be taken from Egypt,” she added, without giving a timeframe for reaching that goal.

Asked about the pipeline which will eventually connect the southern city of Basra in Iraq with Jordan’s Red Sea port of Aqaba, Zawati said: “We’ve had discussions with Iraq that started years ago. It was approved by the Jordanian cabinet, and now we are waiting for the Iraqi side to start working on the pipeline.”

“It’s still there as an idea but has not (yet) materialized... the political situation did not allow for that pipeline to materialize.”



OPEC+ Speeds Up Oil Output Hikes

FILE PHOTO: OPEC logo is seen in this illustration taken, October 8, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: OPEC logo is seen in this illustration taken, October 8, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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OPEC+ Speeds Up Oil Output Hikes

FILE PHOTO: OPEC logo is seen in this illustration taken, October 8, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: OPEC logo is seen in this illustration taken, October 8, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Eight OPEC+ countries agreed on Thursday to advance their plan to phase out oil output cuts by increasing output by 411,000 barrels per day in May.

Eight members of OPEC+, which includes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies led by Russia, had been scheduled to raise output by 135,000 barrels per day in May as part of a plan to gradually unwind their most recent layer of output cuts.
But after a meeting of the eight countries held online on Thursday, the group announced it would boost output by 411,000 bpd in May. OPEC cited "continuing healthy market fundamentals and the positive market outlook."
"This comprises the increment originally planned for May in addition to two monthly increments," OPEC said in a statement referring to the volume. "The gradual increases may be paused or reversed subject to evolving market conditions."
The eight OPEC+ countries will meet on May 5 to decide on June output, OPEC's statement said.

They are Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, UAE, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman.