Amman, Jan 26 (Petra) – Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Saleh Kharabsheh said a natural gas agreement signed with Syria on Monday underlines His Majesty King Abdullah II's directives to support the Syrian people with all resources, boost Syria's electricity sector, and ease a severe energy shortage.
The gas sale and purchase agreement, which was signed in Damascus, aims to supply Syria with gas via Jordanian territory.
It was inked by the National Electric Power Company (NEPCO) Director General Sufian Batayneh, and Hisham Al-Saleh, Deputy CEO for Gas Affairs at the state-run Syrian Petroleum Company (SPC), in the attendance of the energy ministers of the two countries.
It stipulates that Jordan will supply Syria with about 4 million cubic meters of natural gas daily, about 140 million cubic feet.
Jordan began supplying Syria with gas on January 1, 2026, with quantities ranging between 30 and 90 million cubic feet per day.
In remarks following the signing, Kharabsheh said the agreement aims to supply Syria with a portion of its gas needs using Jordan's infrastructure, specifically the floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) in Aqaba and the Arab Gas Pipeline.
The minister pointed out that the gas will help Syrians operate power plants, which will improve supply hours. He added that the Kingdom is working on constructing a permanent FSRU that will be available to and at the disposal of the Syrian side, as a permanent infrastructure project intended to last for decades.
"We also discussed other areas of future cooperation related to electricity and restoring a portion of the power supply once the necessary network maintenance is completed," he said.
He said technical teams from both sides are in contact to define these areas, including the import of petroleum products, cooperation between the Jordanian and Syrian private sectors in importing oil derivatives, and a study of the electricity sector.
For his part, Syrian Energy Minister Muhammad al-Bashir said the agreement aims to supply Syria with a portion of its needs through a natural gas import contract with Jordan. The gas will be transported by sea, purchased and regasified in Aqaba, and then transported via the Arab Gas Pipeline connecting Syria and Jordan, he added.
"We agreed to import 4 million cubic meters of gas daily, which we will use to generate electricity at existing power plants in Syria to strengthen and stabilize the electricity grid and improve generation in the coming phase," said al-Bashir.
He said gas imports began at the start of this year, which contributed to improving the electricity grid and increasing generation from 2,500 megawatts to over 3,000 megawatts after the gas imports from Jordan.
The Syrian minister expressed his country's gratitude to Jordan for the assistance and facilitation of gas transit through Jordan to Syria.
//Petra//SS
