Egypt to hike gas prices to Jordan-cabinet

Egypt’s cabinet has approved a deal signed between the Egyptian oil ministry and its Jordanian counterpart to hike the price of gas exports to Jordan, the state news agency MENA said on Thursday.

Egypt’s interim government has been under pressure to charge Israel and Jordan more for gas exports after popular complaints that prices fixed during the rule of ousted president Hosni Mubarak were below market rates.

Gas supplies to Israel have been suspended following a series of attacks this year on the pipeline in the Sinai border region by assailants believed to oppose the sale of gas to Israel.

A previous gas deal between Egypt and Jordan was signed in 2004 and was meant to last 15 years. It stipulated the export of 240 million cubic feet of gas a day, enough to generate around 80 percent of Jordan’s power.

In July 2010, the two countries agreed to, but did not sign, a deal for additional exports that would bring the total figure to 300 million cubic feet per day of gas.

Mohamed Hegazy, the cabinet’s official spokesman, "expressed appreciation to the Jordanian side for understanding the considerations that called for the (price) hike due to changes in global energy prices and to achieve the appropriate economic return for Egypt," MENA said on Thursday.

Reuters