Will Israel leave Jordan without gas?
Jordan fears that the war in Gaza will cause a blockade of gas supplies from Israel: to protect itself, the country is looking for alternatives. All the details
Jordan is seeking alternative natural gas suppliers to Israel, fearing a possible disruption of flows due to the war in the Gaza Strip. The news was reported on Sunday by the state television network Al-Mamlaka TV, which reported the words of Prime Minister Bisher al-Khasawneh. Khasawneh said that Jordanian authorities have started discussions with two Persian Gulf countries that have shown willingness to meet the country's energy needs.
JORDAN IS AFRAID OF RUNNING WITHOUT ISRAELI GAS
The prime minister specified that the cancellation of the agreement between the Texan company Noble Energy and the state electricity company NEPCO – an agreement that allows Jordan to receive Israeli gas – "is not on the table", is not foreseen. However, there is a fear of an interruption of flows from the Leviathan field in the Mediterranean Sea.
Khasawneh specified that "we have not seen any signs indicating" the possibility of an interruption of gas flows, however "Jordan is planning various scenarios and possibilities amid the aggression and the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip".
In October, Israel suspended gas exports to Egypt and Jordan passing through the East Mediterranean Gas underwater pipeline – the main infrastructure connecting to the Leviathan field -, moving them to another pipeline, the Arab Gas Pipeline.
THE ALTERNATIVES (MOST EXPENSIVE)
Among the various energy alternatives examined by the Jordanian authorities, there is the replacement of Israeli gas with liquefied natural gas (LNG) or diesel. Both options are more expensive, the prime minister recalled: in the case of the switch to LNG, the country would find itself paying 45 million dinars per month (about 63 million dollars); in the case of the switch to diesel, however, 115 million dinars.
WHAT THE NOBLE-NEPCO AGREEMENT INCLUDES
Leviathan is Israel's largest gas field, located in the waters of the Mediterranean and operated by the US oil company Chevron. In January 2020, Noble Energy, also US-based, began shipping Leviathan gas to Jordan under a $10 billion contract with NEPCO in 2016.
The agreement, which covers a period of fifteen years, was not welcomed positively by the entire Jordanian population, who largely still consider Israel an enemy of the Arab world, despite the peace signed in 1994. The Islamic Action Front, the main opposition party, for example, called the agreement “a crime against the nation and a national catastrophe that puts our sovereignty and our energy sector hostage in the hands of the Zionist occupier”.
Jordan is a country extremely dependent on energy imports, which cover 95 percent of its needs.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/energia/giordania-israele-gas-naturale/ on Mon, 27 Nov 2023 14:22:24 +0000.