ADC, Jordanian-Egyptian Fajr company sign natural gas agreement

AMMAN — The Aqaba Development Company (ADC), the developer arm of the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA), and the Jordanian-Egyptian Fajr Company on Thursday signed an agreement to build and operate a link point and a station to supply the Queirah Industrial Zone with industrial gas from the Arab gas pipeline.

The agreement was signed by the CEO of Aqaba Development Company Hussein Safadi and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Egyptian-Jordanian Fajr Company Fouad Rashad, in the presence of Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Saleh Kharabsheh, Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek Al Mulla and ASEZA Chairman Nayef Al Fayez, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

The first phase of the deal includes supplying 1,800 dunums of the industrial zone with gas at a capacity of 90,000 cubic metres per hour.

Kharabsheh highlighted the importance of the agreement as an attractor of investments to attract investments, noting that the power bill is a challenge for various industrial sectors. 

The industrial zone is the first phase of a national programme launched by the government to supply the Kingdom with natural gas in the future, Kharabsheh said, noting that this year, provisions have been made to connect Maan's  Rawda Industrial Zone and Al Muwaqqar Industrial City with a natural gas network.

Mulla commended cooperation between both countries and called to for further expansion of partnerships.

 He also commended Jordan's experience in cutting costs of energy exports and lowering the Kingdom's fuel bill by transitioning to renewable energy sources of energy and suppling industrial zones with natural gas. The Queirah Industrial Zone serves as a model of natural gas use for various industries, Mulla said, expressing his country's readiness to cooperate with Jordan in this arena.