Syria and Jordan signed an agreement on Monday to supply natural gas to Syria via Jordanian territory, with the aim of strengthening Syria’s fragile electricity grid, officials said.
The contract between the Syrian Oil Company and the Jordanian National Electricity Company, signed at the Syrian Ministry of Energy in Damascus, provides for the supply of about 4 million cubic meters of gas, or about 140 million cubic feet, per day.
The deal builds on a broader energy deal signed last year to supply gas to Syria through Jordan, which is financed by Qatar, and is part of regional efforts to ease Syria’s severe power shortages after years of war and infrastructure damage, Syrian and Jordanian officials said. Jordan’s Energy Minister Saleh al-Qarabsheh was quoted by Syrian state media as saying on Monday that deliveries would begin on January 1 and that current volumes range from 30 million to 90 million cubic feet per day.
The country’s Energy Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said the agreement will help Syria diversify its energy supply sources.
Supplies are being delivered via an Energos military regasification vessel leased from Egypt and anchored in Jordan’s Red Sea port of Aqaba until the end of March.
Jordan’s national electricity company has begun the process of leasing a new floating storage and regasification unit to replace the existing vessel, ensuring continuous gas supply beyond March, Karabsheh added.
(Reporting by Suleiman Al Khalidi; Editing by Alexander Smith)
