Asia

Home page

Asia

Egypt blast cuts gas supply to Jordan

28 November 2011 17:43 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Jordan said Monday an attack against a gas pipeline in Egypt led to the complete halt of natural gas supply it receives from the North African country, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Jordanian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Qutaibah Abu Qura said the energy-poor kingdom, which imports about 96 percent of its energy needs annually, will resort to using alternative heavy fuel to generate power.

Monday’s sabotage is the ninth of its kind since the beginning of this year to date, said the minister.

Jordan’s power stations will switch to using alternative heavy fuel for production, said Abu Qura, adding that the country’s alternative fuel reserve is sufficient for 30 days only.

Jordan is coordinating with the Egyptian authorities to ensure the resumption of gas supply as soon as possible, he added.

Over the past three years, about 80 per cent of powered generated in the Kingdom relied on the Egyptian gas. In 2010, Jordan imported about 239 million cubic meters of gas from Egypt.