The Jordan Electric Power Company limited (JEPCO) will purchase up to 45 billion cubic meters (BCM) of natural gas over a period of five years from Israel’s Leviathan gas field.
Noble Energy Inc., Delek Group Ltd, Avner Oil and Gas LP and Delek Drilling Limited Partnership and Ratio Oil Exploration signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Sept. 3, 2014 to export natural gas. Jordan is set to pay up to US$15 billion for the gas and will receive 3 BCM each year for five years.
According to estimates, Jordan consumes 4.5 BCM of gas annually, currently using diesel fuel and fuel oil as substitutes for natural gas. Jordan seems to have turned to Israel for gas following shortages in Egypt and problems with the Arab Gas Pipeline in Sinai.
Israeli Minister of Natural Infrastructures, Energy and Water Resources Silvan Shalom, and the U.S. State Department were both involved in the deal.
The Leviathan gas field is a large natural gas field located in the eastern Mediterranean Sea off Israel’s coastline, about 47 kilometers (29 miles) southwest of the Tamar gas field. It is located approximately 130 kilometers (81 miles) west of Haifa, in waters about 1,500 meters (4,900 feet) deep.
