Private sector diesel imports ‘first step to full liberalisation’ — minister

AMMAN — Allowing the private sector to import diesel is the first step towards full liberalisation of the local market, Energy Minister Ibrahim Saif said on Saturday.

Saif described the process as “successful”, and said that imports were “going smoothly”, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The three fuel distribution companies operating in Jordan have imported three shipments of diesel since they received government approval to import fuel early this year, a source at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources said on Saturday. 

Total Jordan, Manaseer Oil & Gas and the Jordan Petroleum Refinery Company’s (JPRC) Jordan Petroleum Products Marketing Company imported three shipments, each consisting of 48,000 metric tonnes, the source told the Jordan Times. 

The source added that the companies will float more tenders in the future to buy diesel when there is a need. 

The imported diesel is in line with Jordanian specifications, said the source. 

The three companies will sell the diesel directly to consumers through their 450 fuel stations across the Kingdom, the official added. 

In January, the government signed a deal with the three companies to allow them to import fuel, putting an end to the JPRC’s monopoly over diesel imports.

The government signed a memorandum of understanding with the three suppliers to import diesel and distribute it directly to consumers without the mediation of the refinery.

Under the memo, the companies were to import a total of 288,000 metric tonnes of diesel over a six-month trial period, at an average of 48,000 metric tonnes per month. 

The JPRC currently refines 75 per cent of Jordan’s fuel product needs, according to the latest available figures, with the government sourcing the remainder by importing already refined fuel from abroad.

Jordan imports about 97 per cent of its energy needs.