An agreement to review prices for the Egyptian natural gas exports to Jordan will be signed this month, a senior offical at Egypt's Petroleum Ministry has told Al-Masry Al-Youm. The event will be witnessed by oil and energy ministers and other senior figures from both states, according to the official, who asked not to be named. The official said the deal contains a host of advantages for Egypt, including better prices. The Egypt-Jordan gas deal, signed in 2004, stipulated that Egypt provide Jordan with a 240 million square feet of natural gas daily for 15 years. Jordan relies on Egyptian gas supplies for 80 percent of its electricity needs. But the country resorted to heavy fuels to operate its power plants when Egypt halted its exports, thus suffering losses of US$5 million daily. The ministry official added that the countries have agreed to conduct a periodic price review starting in 2013. He said the new deal will bring the Egyptian government an additional US$250 million per year. Egyptian gas supplies to Jordan dropped by 27 percent in 2010. This downturn was further deepened because five explosions have hit the pipeline carrying the supply to Jordan and Israel since 5 February this year. On Monday, an official at Jordan's Energy Ministry said the Egyptian supply will resume soon based on a new agreement with amended prices. Translated from the Arabic Edition
