Egypt will transport natural gas from Aqaba to Jordanian cities

Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak is supportive of the petroleum sector in general and the Arab natural gas pipeline project in particular Minister of Petroleum Sameh Fahmi stressed yesterday. He pointed out that mutual respect between President Mubarak and Jordanian Abdullah was the main reason why the Egyptian consortium won international bid offered by Jordan for building the second stage of the Arab gas pipeline from Aqaba Harbour to Rehab City Jordan.

The minister was speaking on the occasion of Egypt's sector winning the bidding to build the network to distribute natural gas from Aqaba Harbour throughout Jordan via its national network.

The fact that the Egyptian oil sector companies have been successful in their bid reflects the fact that they are capable of withstanding international competition and working outside Egypt to international standards, relying on their vast experience in this field, Fahmi explained.

The project, the first of its kind to be handled by Egyptian oil companies outside Egypt, will be built according to the B.O.T. (build -operate - transfer) system, which means that it will be transferred to the Jordanian government after 30 years.

In related news, Egyptian-Jordanian discussions started yesterday in Cairo between Fahmi and Jordanian Minister of Industry and Energy Mohammed El-Battayna to explore further cooperation between the two states in oil-related industries