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Iraq crisis worsens Jordan’s economic woes

Amman, Jordan – As violence escalates in Iraq, neighbouring Jordan is facing a dire economic situation. Trade between the two countries, once a pillar of the Jordanian economy, has dropped dramatically. "The situation is disastrous, as our exports have almost stopped," said Nabeel Rumman, president of the Association of Investors in the Free Zone. Jordanian and foreign investors are not taxed in Jordan’s free zones to encourage trade. Through the free zones, companies were exporting $120m worth of cars and other goods each month to Iraq, according to Rumman, who estimated that the group’s monthly losses total approximately $78m. "Only a few investors have shipped basic things like food and medicine [to Iraq] during the past couple of months," Rumman told Al Jazeera. Iraq previously imported 20 percent of Jordan’s total exports , and in 2013, exports from Jordan to Iraq totalled approximately $1.25bn, according to the Jordan Chamber of Industry […]

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Egypt, Iran, Jordan Call Off Gas Pipeline Talks

Egypt , Iraq and Jordan have called off talks regarding construction of a gas pipeline as a result of violence, instability and insecurity, reports Daily News Egypt . The goal of the proposed pipeline was to carry Iraqi fuel to Jordan and Egypt or to transform gas to its liquid form in one of the factories operating in Egypt, which would then be exported. According to the Egyptian newspaper, a study focusing on the construction of a pipeline was supposed to be completed at the end of this year. In March this year, the three countries signed two agreements regarding the pipeline. The first agreement dealt with transferring natural gas through the Arab Gas Pipeline. The second agreement required connecting of LNG project to the gas tube with a link up with the Jordanian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources and the National Electricity Company on the one hand and […]

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Jordan expects huge savings from shale oil

Jordanian officials say shale oil exploration in the country could save it an estimated $300 million per year in heavy oil and diesel imports. Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour met Thursday in Amman with Estonian Finance Minister Jurgen Ligi to discuss investments in Jordan’s shale oil deposits, the official Jordan News Agency reported. Both sides are planning work on a plant that will use shale oil to produce electricity and reduce imports, the report said. In 2008, Jordan and Estonia agreed to funnel shale oil to the Attarat power station, which is expected to begin service in 2017. The plant should have an operating capacity of 540 megawatts, officials say. The Jordanian government says it estimates it holds about 34 billion barrels in shale oil that it expects to tap into with the help of Estonian investments. Estonian officials have described Jordan’s shale potential […]

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Israel has $500M gas deal with Jordan, but wider exports still unclear

Israel has signed its first gas export deal, selling gas worth $500 million to Arab peace partner Jordan, but debate is still unresolved on whether the Jewish state will export the bulk of its gas via undersea pipeline or by tanker as liquefied natural gas. The gas that will go to Jordan, Israel’s eastern neighbor, from the Tamar field in the eastern Mediterranean under the 15-year contract signed Wednesday will be pumped via pipeline to two of the Hashemite kingdom’s chemical companies, Arab Potash and its subsidiary Jordan Bromine, at their facilities on the Dead Sea. Stakeholders in the Tamar field, headed by Noble Energy of Houston, Tex., and its Israeli partners Delek Group and Avner Oil & Gas, signed a 20-year gas supply deal with the Palestinian Authority in January for a planned power station in the West Bank. Technically, the […]

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Jordan, Iraq mull prospects of pipeline from Basra to Aqaba

AMMAN, Jordan, Jan. 10 (UPI) — Jordan wants Iraq to move quickly on implementation of an oil pipeline from the Iraqi port city of Basra, the Jordanian prime minister said. Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour met in Amman with Iraqi Oil Minister Abdul Karim al-Luaibi to discuss ties in the energy sector and said his government was interested in the quick development of a pipeline from Basra that could deliver as much as 150,000 barrels of oil per day to the Jordanian shore, the official Jordan News Agency reported Thursday. The pipeline would stretch from Basra to the Jordanian port city of Aqaba. Ensour said the private sector should play a role in a project that could eventually extend to Egypt and other Mediterranean countries. The Iraqi minister said there is the possibility of building an oil refinery and power plant in Aqaba in addition to a pipeline. In a […]

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Largest camp for Syrian refugees becoming a city

AP Photo ZAATARI CAMP, Jordan (AP) — The manager of the region’s largest camp for Syrian refugees arranges toy figures, trucks and houses on a map in his office trailer to illustrate his ambitious vision. In a year, he wants to turn the chaotic shantytown of 100,000 into a temporary city with local councils, paved streets, parks, an electricity grid and sewage pipes. Zaatari, a desert camp near Jordan’s border with Syria, is far from that ideal. Life is tough here. The strong often take from the weak, women fear going to communal bathrooms after dark, sewage runs between pre-fab trailers and boys hustle for pennies carting goods in wheelbarrows instead of going to school. But with Syria’s civil war in its third year, the more than 2 million Syrians who fled their country need long-term solutions, said Kilian Kleinschmidt, who runs Zaatari for the U.N. refugee agency. “We […]

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Jordan's rural poor chafe under the burden of hosting Syrian refugees | Al Jazeera America

Syria’s War Locals say that municipal water had previously been pumped through the village twice a week, but since the influx of Syrians, it’s just once a week — and they blame the Syrians for the rationing. There’s not enough water as it is in this country, one of the world’s driest, and now there are more people sharing what little is available. There are other pressures, too. Many of the schools in Zaatari village and its surroundings run double shifts to accommodate the increased number of students. Local health centers have seen a 30 to 40 percent increase in their case load, according to Madallah al-Khalde, the head of Zaatari’s development council who also heads the charitable Zaatari Association that has aided needy locals for almost three decades. “This area was poor already,” Khalde says, “now it’s a disaster area because of the large numbers of Syrian refugees.” […]

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Jordan’s rural poor chafe under the burden of hosting Syrian refugees | Al Jazeera America

Syria’s War Locals say that municipal water had previously been pumped through the village twice a week, but since the influx of Syrians, it’s just once a week — and they blame the Syrians for the rationing. There’s not enough water as it is in this country, one of the world’s driest, and now there are more people sharing what little is available. There are other pressures, too. Many of the schools in Zaatari village and its surroundings run double shifts to accommodate the increased number of students. Local health centers have seen a 30 to 40 percent increase in their case load, according to Madallah al-Khalde, the head of Zaatari’s development council who also heads the charitable Zaatari Association that has aided needy locals for almost three decades. “This area was poor already,” Khalde says, “now it’s a disaster area because of the large numbers of Syrian refugees.” […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple