Egypt and Jordan inaugurate underwater gas pipeline
http://www.spa.gov.sa/html/archive_e.asp?srcfile=565304&NDay=27/07/2003&wcat
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CAIRO, Egypt, July 27, SPA -- Egypt and Jordan inaugurated an underwater
pipeline that will allow Egypt to supply energy-strapped Jordan with 2.7
billion cubic meters (94.5 billion cubic feet) of natural gas a year, the
first stage of a plan to extend the gas grid all the way to Europe. The
first, completed stage takes the pipeline across 245 kilometers (153 miles)
of the Sinai peninsula from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea and then 15
kilometers (9.3 miles) underwater to the Jordanian port of Aqaba. The second
stage will be a 370-kilometer (222-mile) pipeline from Aqaba to northern
Jordan. The third stage, beginning in 2006, will extend pipelines to Syria,
Lebanon, and Turkey and later to Europe.

Egypt has potential reserves of 70 trillion cubic feet and hopes to become
one of the world's top 10 exporters of natural gas in the next four years.

Sunday, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and King Abdullah of Jordan met in
the Egyptian resort city of Taba, 450 kilometers (280 miles) east of the
capital Cairo, near the head of the gulf of Aqaba, for the inauguration
ceremony. They then went across the gulf to Aqaba, where they inaugurated a
thermal gas station that will be fueled by the natural gas supplied through
the pipeline. --SPA