Jordan Faces Gas Shortage: Israel Halts Natural Gas Exports

June 15, 2025

21:42

Jordan faces a gas shortage. Image.

Due to Iran's threat of an attack, Israel has shut down two of its three major offshore natural gas fields and halted gas exports. Jordan is the first affected country, with power plants forced to shut down due to lack of fuel and now turning to more expensive alternative energy sources.

The Israeli Minister of Energy and Infrastructure ordered a suspension in the development of the Leviathan and Karish gas fields. The Israel National Natural Gas Carrier Company issued a notice to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE): the Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, Eli Cohen, has temporarily suspended the delivery of natural gas from the Karish and Leviathan offshore fields due to security threats.

Israel's declining natural gas production initially affects its exports, which have now been completely halted. Egypt and Jordan face supply shortages, with Jordan's only previous source of natural gas being Israel.

Jordanian government public relations minister Mohammad Momani told The Jordan Times that supplies were interrupted early Friday morning, forcing power plants to switch urgently to heavy oil and diesel.

Momani stated: "In response, the Ministry of Energy has activated an emergency plan to use alternative fuels to maintain national electricity generation."

He emphasized that Jordan's energy supply is temporarily not in crisis, but the more expensive fuel will impose additional financial pressure on the national budget.

Energy expert and economist Ammar Shawkat told The Jordan Times that if the supply is cut off for a long time, the Jordanian government will be forced to borrow money to cover the additional costs and avoid power outages.

According to this expert, the current fuel reserves at power plants can sustain operations for 14 days, while the liquefied natural gas floating storage facility in Aqaba has an emergency reserve of 7-10 days, providing critical buffer for short-term supply.

It is worth noting that Argus Media pointed out that Jordan currently has no liquefied natural gas receiving terminals - its regasification vessels have been dispatched to Egypt for operations.

At the same time, Egypt is also unprepared for the supply cut. In recent years, Egypt has become a natural gas importer again, and Israel's suspension of supplies has forced the Egyptian government to reduce natural gas supply to fertilizer plants.

Egypt plans to build four liquefied natural gas receiving stations, but currently only one is located on the Red Sea coast and is operating at full capacity.

Original Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7516378757414781481/

Disclaimer: This article represents the author's personal views. Please express your opinions by clicking the 'Like' or 'Dislike' buttons below.