November 20, 2008

Jordanian energy bill during five month up by 72%

According to a report in the Al Arab Al Yawm Arabic daily, Jordan Kingdom’s energy bill rose by 72% during January to May 2008 period

Citing Department of Statistics, it reported that the country’s bill surpassed JOD 1.25 billion. It said that the cost of crude oil amounted to JOD 953.7 million during the January to May period of this year compared to around JOD728 million during the same period last year; an increase of 71.7%.

It added that the country also paid JOD 119.4 million for diesel oil, JOD 64 million for liquid household gas, JOD 28.4 million for gasoline, JOD 70 million for natural gas and JOD 14 million for electric power.

The newspaper said that other shortages of petroleum products are covered through importing from other markets via competitive tenders. In the absence of commercial quantities, the Kingdom depends heavily on imported energy products which account for around 96 per cent of its total needs.

At present, the Kingdom imports three billion barrels of oil monthly, on average, from Saudi Arabia.