Jordan explores natural gas options

AMMAN, Jordan, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- Jordan might look for other natural gas suppliers after Egyptian authorities said they were delivering preliminary volumes through a bombed pipeline.

Authorities in Cairo said al-Qaida is behind a string of attacks on a natural gas pipeline in the Sinai Peninsula. Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian, praised "heroes" who attacked the same pipeline earlier this summer.

An attack in mid-November marked the seventh assault on the pipeline since the Egyptian revolution early this year. The pipeline delivers natural gas to Israel and Jordan, which both rely on Egyptian gas for electricity.

The Jordanian government is said to be examining the possibility of getting natural gas from Iraq or tap into liquefied natural gas from its gulf neighbors, The Jordan Times reports.

The country has tapped into oil reserves to offset the natural gas disruption from Egypt. The country's economic outlook, however, was hit hard by frequent downstream supply disruptions, the report adds.

Both sides said there was some gas getting to Jordan but capacity hadn't reached full levels.