Jordanian campaigners expressed disappointment after the US-led consortium leading the development of Israel’s offshore gas reserves on Monday announced a first deal to sell natural gas from its off-shore Leviathan field to Jordan. According to the media, Jordan
US firm Noble Energy, the lead partner, said in a statement that the contract signed Monday with the National Electric Power Company of Jordan (NEPCO) was for “300 million cubic feet per day over a 15-year term”. It includes an option to purchase a further 50 million cubic feet up to a total of 350 million daily.
“Gross contract revenues are estimated to be approximately $10 billion,” it said. Delivery to NEPCO is expected to begin at the same time as the estimated 22 trillion cubic foot field goes online to domestic clients in 2019 “subject to regulatory approvals from Israel and Jordan”, Noble said. Leviathan, which holds an estimated 22 trillion cubic feet of gas, is operated by US-based Noble Energy and the Israel-based Delek Group.
The partners in the Leviathan project will reportedly continue to pursue long-term agreements with other customers in the eastern Mediterranean, including in Egypt, Turkey and the Palestinian Authority.
Over recent months, the Jordanian National Campaign Against the Gas Agreement with the Zionist Entity (Israel) protested the government’s agreement to import natural gas from Israel, saying the deal represents a moral hazard as well as a threat to Jordanian sovereignty. According to the campaigners such a deal serves as a sponsor to Israeli terrorism and forces Jordanian citizens to normalize with the Israeli occupation against their will.
