AMMAN, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Two deals were signed on Tuesday by two major Jordanian energy companies to supply natural gas to local companies to help reduce their energy costs.
The deals were signed by Jordan's state-run National Electric Power Company and the Jordanian-Egyptian FAJR for Natural Gas Transmission and Supply Company with two industrial companies, Jordan's Energy Minister Hala Zawati said in a statement.
Under the first deal, the Jordan Phosphate Mines Company will get a daily supply of 4 million cubic feet of natural gas, the minister said.
The second agreement entails the supply of natural gas to the Nuqul Group, Zawati added.
The minister said that the deals seek to reduce the costs of energy bills by encouraging local companies to shift to natural gas.
Industrial facilities using natural gas for their operations will witness a decline of 25-50 percent in their costs, Zawati noted.
Jordan, which imports more than 90 percent of its daily energy needs, shifted to importing natural gas over the past few years following repeated cuts in natural gas supply from Egypt amid the so-called Arab Spring.
The country has embarked on a plan to encourage industries to use natural gas, especially after Jordan built a terminal for liquefied natural gas in the Red Sea port of Aqaba.
