AMMAN: Jordan's Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Khaled Tukan, said there is no solution to for the crisis of energy supply in Jordan in the short term savings relying on Egyptian gas and heavy fuel and diesel substitutes. He noted that finding alternative energy sources will not occur immediately. Tukan said in an interview with the Jordanian newspaper Ghad, that it is not easy to transfer dependency on Egyptian natural gas to fuel oil or any other source of energy after years of total dependence on the generation of electrical energy for natural gas. He said this was especially after the interruption of Iraqi oil as the main source of energy for Jordan. Tukan also pointed out that the rate of flow of Egyptian natural gas to Jordan in 2009 was 310 million cubic feet a day, and fell to 220 million cubic feet in 2010. He said it did not exceed the flow rate through the first six months of this year. It reached 90 million cubic feet, while the average need of Jordan daily gas is 255 million cubic feet, added Tukan. He also said the agreement with Egypt, which was prompted by the bombing of the pipeline in el- Arish on July 12, obliges Egypt to compensate Jordan for the quantities of the deficit during the periods of interruption. Such compensation should start from 2013 and should last for a period of 3 years, he added.
