Jordan expects gas from Egypt soon

AMMAN, Jordan, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Natural gas supplies from Egypt to Jordan could resume as early as next week following repairs to a pipeline damaged by sabotage, an official said.

The official Egypt State Information Service last week said an explosion "has again" struck a pipeline in Sinai Peninsula near the town of el-Arish. The ESIS reported the explosion destroyed part of the pipeline, halting exports to Israel and Jordan for the seventh time since the Egyptian revolution this year.

The Jordanian Minister of Energy Qutaiba Abu Qura said the energy outlook for the country was "stable" after Cairo said natural gas deliveries would resume next week, the Jordan Times reports.

Israel gets about one-quarter of its electricity needs from natural gas supplied through Egypt, though Jordan imports most of the energy it needs.

The Egyptian Natural Gas Co. said crews were making progress on pipeline repairs and Cairo has provided security assurances to its gas customers, the report adds.

Authorities in Cairo believe al-Qaida is behind the string of attacks on the gas pipeline. Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian who issued a recent statement commemorating the late Osama bin Laden, praised the "heroes" who attacked the same pipeline earlier this summer.