Jordan selects Shell for two years of LNG supply

By MOHAMMAD TAYSEER and ANNA SHIRYAEVSKAYA
Bloomberg

Jordan selected Royal Dutch Shell to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) for the next two years after a tender.

Shell will send 18-20 shipments a year, covering 40% of Jordan’s needs for power, in 2016 and 2017, said Abde Al-Fattah Al-Daradkeh, director general of National Electric Power Co. of Jordan.

The Amman-based company initially sought LNG supplies for the four years from January 1, according to tender documents issued in July.

Jordan became an LNG importer this year after opening a floating terminal at the Red Sea port of Aqaba, joining other Middle Eastern nations that turned to the super-chilled fuel to meet their rising power demand. Jordan this month also started exporting gas to Egypt via a pipeline after reaching an agreement to receive extra LNG cargoes using excess capacity at Aqaba.

Shell declined to comment, spokesman Jonathan French said by e-mail. Shell already provided cargoes to Jordan, including the first commercial LNG in July, after signing a five-year agreement on supplies, according to Jordan’s Energy Ministry.

In addition to the volumes awarded in the latest tender, Shell provides Jordan with 18-to-20 shipments of LNG a year as part of a deal signed with the government last year, Al-Daradkeh said Wednesday.

In a separate tender, Egypt this week picked seven companies to provide 55 LNG cargoes through December 2016, the country’s oil ministry said in an e-mailed statement Oct. 12, without identifying the companies. It had originally sought 45 cargoes.

• Most Read
• Most Commented