Egypt denies that it intends to cut off natural gas to Jordan

The Egyptian Ambassador to Jordan, Khaled Tharwat, has denied media reports which claim that Egypt intends to reduce the amount of natural gas exported to Jordan prior to cutting off the supply completely by June.

In a press statement published by official Jordanian media outlets, Ambassador Tharwat said, “There is no intention on our side to stop our natural gas exports to Jordan.” He added that Jordan’s relations with Egypt are “deep and strong”.

Jordan’s King, Abdullah II, had earlier told a US journalist that the “harshest blow” to his country’s economy would be “the discontinuation of the natural gas supply from Egypt”. Eighty per cent of Jordan’s needs to generate electricity, added the monarch, come from that source. “At a time of rising petroleum prices, it could cost our government over $2 billion annually, adding to our deficit,” he said.