Israel signed a memorandum of understanding with Jordan Wednesday, under which it will supply the Hashemite Kingdom with $15 billion worth of natural gas from its Leviathan energy field over 15 years.Globes adds:
The new deal is the largest collaboration with Jordan to date, and will make Israel its chief supplier, according to the Globes business news website.
According to Globes, the US was involved in the negotiations. Representatives of the Delek Group Ltd. and Nobel Energy Inc. were in Jordan to sign the agreement.
In February, Israel signed a deal with Jordan to supply $500 million worth of gas to the Hashemite kingdom from the Tamar natural gas field in the Mediterranean.
Israel decided last year to export 40 percent of the country’s offshore gas finds, and has since signed a 20-year, $1.2 billion deal with a Palestinian firm, and in June signed a letter of intent to supply energy to an Egyptian facility as well.
Jordan's total natural gas consumption is estimated at 4.5 BCM annually, and as of now, it must use diesel fuel and fuel oil as a substitute for gas. Jordan formerly imported 2.5 BCM from Egypt through the Arab Gas Pipeline (AGP). The shortage of gas in Egypt and the problems and sabotage in Sinai, however, eventually caused an almost total halt in the flow of gas to Jordan.Isn't it interesting that when Arab entities like Egypt, Jordan and the PA need fuel, they aren't getting it from their fellow Arabs but are forced to buy it from Israel?
Jordan shares a long border with Saudi Arabia, yet they couldn't come up with a way for their fellow Arabs to help them out. And Egypt's gas surplus has turned into a deficit.
Israel is the most stable, reliable energy supplier in the Middle East. Imagine that.
Not that Jordan is keen to advertise this deal. Here is the entire story from Jordan's official news agency Petra. See if you can see what proper noun is missing from the article:
The Jordan National Electric Power Company (NEPCO) announced on Wednesday that it has signed a US-sponsored non-binding Letter of Intent with US-based Noble Energy to provide the Kingdom with natural gas from the eastern Mediterranean basin.
A NEPCO statement said that the US company had already signed similar letters of intent with two Egyptian companies and two agreements to sell natural gas to the Arab Potash Company and Jordan Bromine Company, as well as to the Palestinian National Authority.