Jordan is a key player in Israel’s energy equation in the region as it could either make or break the Jordan-Israeli gas sales and purchase agreement that is vital to Israel’s success as a regional energy player, according to the director of hydrocarbons at the Paris-based Mediterranean Energy Observatory (OME).
In September 2016, U.S.’ Noble Energy, the operator of Israel’s Leviathan gas field, signed a gas sales and purchase agreement with Jordan’s National Electric Power Company Ltd. (NEPCO) to sell approximately three billion cubic meters of natural gas over a 15-year term.
“If Jordan cancels the gas deal signed with Israel following Israel’s brutality in the Gaza Strip, there is no place for its gas to go, therefore, Israel can suffer huge losses in terms of energy income,” Director Sohbet Karbuz told Anadolu Agency in an exclusive interview.
The deal in September 2016 was agreed despite widespread disapproval in Jordan for the purchase of Israel’s energy. The past two years saw a number of popular demonstrations in Jordan’s capital Amman against the proposed import of gas from the Jewish state.
Karbuz explained that Jordan is the most important market that these companies rely on to recover the billions of dollars of investments that these companies have made.
