Egypt blast freezes gas supply to Jordan

AMMAN - Jordan said Sunday an attack against a gas pipeline in Egyptian city of Arish led to the complete halt of natural gas supply Jordan receives from the north African country, the state-run Petra news agency reported.

Jordan Petroleum Refinery Company and the country's National Electric Power Company are currently working on securing necessary amount of fuel derivatives to continue the generation of power to citizens, Jordan's Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Qutaibah Abu Qura said Sunday.

Jordan used to receive 2.5 million cubic meters of gas per day before the attack against the pipeline, said the minister, adding that talks are underway with the Egyptian authorities to assess the damages.

A fire is seen on a gas pipeline in the Massaeed area west of the Mediterranean coastal town of al-Arish, North of Sinai, February 5, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

The gas pipeline to Israel and Jordan in Egypt's Arish was bombed in the early hours on Sunday. About ten armed men put the explosives under the pipeline, west of Arish in the north of the Sinai peninsula and bombed it at around 1 am on Sunday (2300 GMT Saturday), a security source told Xinhua.

The explosion caused a blaze as there was gas in the pipeline. No casualties were reported in the explosion.

This was the 12th explosion targeting the pipeline since February 2011.

Over the past three years, about 80 percent of power generated in the energy-poor kingdom, which imports about 96 percent of its energy needs annually, relied on the Egyptian gas. In 2010, Jordan imported about 6.8 million cubic meters of gas per day from Egypt.