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Amman, October 28, 2024 - Under the patronage of Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Dr. Saleh Al-Kharabsheh, Aqaba Development Company and Egypt Gas Company signed an agreement today, Monday, to implement the project to supply Quweira Industrial Estate in Aqaba with natural gas.

The agreement was signed by CEO of Aqaba Development Company, Hussein Al-Safadi, and Chairman of Egypt Gas Company, Eng. Wael Ahmed Jawad, to establish a natural gas pipeline network and the necessary infrastructure, a control and operation building, and public safety systems in accordance with the highest international and local standards regulating the gas sector.

During the signing ceremony, Minister Al-Kharabsheh said that this agreement between Aqaba Development Company and Gas Egypt Company to implement the internal network of Quweira Industrial Estate is one of the important projects to reduce the burden on the industrial sector, prepare an attractive climate for investment, reduce production costs, rationalize energy use, reduce carbon emissions, and create new job opportunities, which supports the opportunities for Jordanian industries to increase their exports and competitiveness.

Al-Kharabsheh pointed out that the energy bill constitutes a burden and a challenge for various sectors, especially the industrial sector, stressing that the government, represented by the ministry, launched a national program to deliver natural gas to all industrial estates and areas in the Kingdom, starting from the Quweira area to include the cities of Rawdah, Muwaqqar, Mafraq, Qastal, and Hashimiya, pointing to the positive effects of using natural gas on the sector due to the low cost of its use by 30% compared to heavy fuel, 55% compared to liquefied petroleum gas, and 60% compared to diesel.

He pointed out that these projects come within the sustainable resources engine in the economic modernization vision, one of the most important goals of which is to enhance the energy infrastructure and reduce its cost, which positively reflects on the business environment and attracts new foreign investments, as the cost of energy in Jordan was one of the most important obstacles to investment.

For his part, Al-Safadi explained the project's goal of increasing the reliance of existing industries in Quweira Industrial Estate, especially heavy and medium ones, on natural gas in production processes, stressing the strategic importance of the project, which represents a qualitative leap in Jordanian industrial cities in general and in the Aqaba area in particular by developing and modernizing them according to the highest international standards regulating the sector, noting the importance of using natural gas as one of the most prominent vital energy options for its role in reducing energy costs and as a safe and environmentally friendly source and its significant impact on the costs of maintenance work resulting from the use of natural gas as an alternative to traditional fuel, which will positively reflect on the business environment and attract new foreign investments to the Quweira Industrial Estate as the first estate in Jordan to be supplied with natural gas.

Al-Safadi explained that the project consists of establishing a network of natural gas pipelines and infrastructure to cover the entire area of Quweira Industrial Estate with natural gas, establishing a building for control and monitoring, public safety systems and equipment, and gas detection systems in the event of any leakage, so that natural gas is pumped through this network to the industries within the industrial estate with a capacity of 30 thousand cubic meters per hour in the first phase, expandable to reach 90 thousand cubic meters per hour in the future, and with a pressure ranging between 7-26 bars, as the project implementation period is about 11 months from the date of commencement of implementation.

According to the terms of the agreement, the internal network will be implemented to supply the Quweira Industrial Estate with natural gas on an area estimated at 1,800 acres as a first phase, where the Jordanian-Egyptian Fajr Company, in cooperation with the Egyptian Gas Company, implemented procedures on the main gas network using the Hot Tapping system to ensure that the industrial estate is fed from the nearest point to the gas network, in addition to a measuring station with a capacity of 30,000 m3/hour and pressure reduction, expandable in two phases, the first reaching 60,000 m3/hour and the second reaching 90,000 m3/hour to be a nucleus to serve future industrial expansions in the region.

The signing of the agreement is considered today a part of a series of achievements made by the Egyptian Gas Company within the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan by implementing internal gas networks for factories such as Phosphate, Fine Hygienic Paper Factory, and Jinshig Ceramics Factory. The company also implemented measuring and reduction stations in the Qastal and Hashemite industrial estates in Zarqa and participated in the implementation of the North Gas Pipeline project with a length of 26 km and a diameter of 36 inches and connecting it to the main gas network.

Egypt Gas Company is conducting several technical and economic studies with the aim of supplying industrial estates and delivering natural gas to the domestic and commercial sectors at the cities of Amman and Zarqa at the center of the Kingdom and the city of Aqaba in the southern region.

It is worth noting that Aqaba Development Company signed an agreement with the Jordanian-Egyptian Fajr Company in 2023 to establish a pressure reduction station project from 80-40 bars and a measuring station at Quweira Industrial Estate and connect it to the Arab Gas Pipeline through a branch pipe with a capacity of 30 thousand cubic meters per hour for the first phase of the project, expandable to reach 90 thousand cubic meters per hour in the future, and with a pressure of 7-26 bars, in order to ensure the supply of industries in the industrial estate with natural gas by pumping gas through the pipeline network, as the project is expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2025.