(MENA) -- Egypt will increase the natural gas supply to Jordan to 60 million cubic feet (MCF) daily, the Kingdom's Energy Minister Alaa Al-Batayna stated. Egypt supplies natural gas to Jordan through the Arab Gas Pipeline, which runs from Egypt to Syria, passing through Israel, Jordan, and Lebanon. The pipeline has been the target of more than a dozen attacks over the past two years in the Sinai pennisula, leading the gas supply to be frequently disturbed. Such frequent stoppage gas supplies has cost Jordan millions of dollars, as they consume more expensive fossil to generate electricity. El-Batayna met with his Egyptian counterpart, Osama Kamal, earlier this week and agreed on raising the supply. "This will help reduce losses of the National Jordanian Electricity Company by some 8 per cent this year," El-Batayna said. Egypt currently delivers 42 MCFs of natural gas daily to Jordan, according to the Jordanian minister. About 250 mcfs of natural gas were supplied daily to the kingdom in agreement with the contract signed between Egypt and Jordan in 2004.
