Cairo, January 14 - Neftegaz.RU. Egyptian natural gas is to officially begin flowing to Jordan in February for the 1st time in 7 years. Gas exports to Jordan were expected to gradually return to previous levels, the Egyptian government said, as Cairo advances its plan to become a regional energy hub.
«The resumption of exports to Jordan is a step on the road to sending Egyptian natural gas to other countries,» said Hamdi Abdel Aziz, Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum spokesman. Hamdi Abdel Aziz, «We are pinning a lot of hope on the return of our gas to international markets to contribute to economic growth.»
Natural gas exports to Jordan stopped in 2012 when the pipeline carrying the gas from El Arish in North Sinai to Aqaba and Israel was bombed numerous times. The return of Egyptian gas to international markets is a major economic shift in a country that has, in the last 2 years, almost doubled its production.
The rise in production was propelled by a series of discoveries, including Zohr field under the Mediterranean. Production from Zohr raised total national production to 6.5 billion cubic feet a day at the end of 2018.
Abdel Aziz said Jordan would be the 1st in a list of countries, including Italy, Spain and France, that Egypt will export its natural gas to in the coming years. The 2nd export stage, he added, would include other European states, likely in 2020.
In entering the European market, Egyptian gas is expected to pose competition to Russian gas. «Our gas will be much cheaper than [gas] coming from Russia,» Abdel Aziz said. «European countries will find the gas pumped from Egypt less costly than the one they import from Russia both before and after liquefaction.»
