The Ministry of Petroleum aims to increase natural gas exports to 150m standard cubic feet per day(scfd) for Jordanian power plants by the end of the year, up from to 100m scfd currently, and gradually increase to 250m scfd by January 2019. An official at the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources told Daily News Egypt that the export capacity of the Jordan gas pipeline is estimated at 1bn scfd. He pointed out that the ministry finalised the agreement with the Jordanian side to supply 250m scfd, at different prices than the previous agreement. The official added that Egypt has resumed natural gas exports to Jordan since July, through the pipeline connecting Egypt and Jordan, in quantities estimated at 50m scfd, paving the way towards the transformation of Egypt to become a regional gas hub, after achieving self-sufficiency from natural gas. The Jordanian Energy Ministry said in a statement earlier that the agreement is to import 10% of the country's needs of natural gas for electricity generation from Egypt, after the visit of the Jordanian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Hala Zawati, to Egypt, last month. The Egyptian government signed a 15-year agreement with Jordan in 2004 to supply 250m scfd, at a price of $2.5 per million British Thermal Unit (MBTU), but the government raised gas prices in April 2012 to $5 per MBTU. The gas pipeline between the two countries was targeted by various bombings, and sabotage attempts, since the January 25 revolution by unknown assailants, causing supplies to be briefly disrupted.
