Jordan canceled a 15-year deal to buy Israeli natural gas from a US company and has instead said it will buy gas from the coast of the Gaza Strip extracted by a British firm.
The move follows a row between Houston-based Noble Energy and the Israeli government over plans to develop the country’s two biggest natural gas fields.
Jerusalem had hoped to leverage its new-found energy reserves diplomatically, but Jordan said this week that it had suspended talks to import gas from Israel and that it would now sign an agreement with BG Group Plc to buy Gaza Strip gas from 2017.
The Hashemite Kingdom, which imports almost all its energy needs, is keen to secure supply after a series of pipeline bombings in the Sinai disrupted its imports from Egypt.
Mohammad Hamed, Jordan’s Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, said: “This is a very important deal as gas imports from Egypt are still halted.”
