Ammon News - Jordan and Egypt Saturday signed a cooperation agreement under which Egypt will use the Aqaba Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU) during the remaining period of the floating vessel's charter contract.

Director General of the National Electricity Company (NEPCO) Amjad Rawashdeh and Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) Chairmn Magdy Galal signed the agreement during a ceremony attended by Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Saleh Kharabsheh and Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El-Mulla.

Kharabsheh said the main objective of the agreement is to benefit from the resources of the two countries with higher efficiency at a lower cost, stressing that the use of the floating vessel in Aqaba will run until the end of its charter contract in late 2025, after which the coastal gasification unit the ministry is currently implementing will be used.

He said the energy ministry is in the process of issuing bids for the gasification unit and that a perspective on how far the designs meet the needs of the two countries will be in place in the next two months, adding that the Jordanian government will launch the national program to supply natural gas to factories as well as homes in Amman and Zarqa, urging Egyptian firms to invest in it.

For his part, the Egyptian minister said his country has the expertise in domestic gas applications and will help to maximize Jordan's benefit in this field, stressing the importance of Jordanian-Egyptian cooperation in implementing a number of energy projects.

He noted that Egypt has multiple energy efficiency and carbon emissions and global warming reduction ventures, adding that natural gas is a top priority in industrial projects.