Total, Al Manaseer to start importing fuel in November

AMMAN — French oil company Total and Jordan’s Al Manaseer will start importing fuel products as of next month, putting an end to the Jordan Petroleum Refinery Company’s monopoly over the market, the government said Tuesday.

Total and Al Manaseer will start by importing diesel and later expand into all other types of oil derivatives, including 90-and 95-octane gasoline, Haidar Gammaz, spokesperson of the Ministry of Energy, told The Jordan Times.

“This will put an end to the refinery’s monopoly. The companies will be offering tenders to buy fuel from international markets,” he said.

Distribution of oil derivatives will be equally divided between Total, Al Manaseer and JPRC, added Gammaz.

He said discussions will be held soon with the three companies to coordinate quantities of fuel to be imported and storage capacities for the imported products.

The spokesperson added that the government will continue to monitor prices in the market and set official prices at the end of each month.

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

Jordan imports about 97 per cent of its energy needs annually.