August 20, 2015 [Petra] - Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour, on Wednesday, launched a major project to build storage facilities for oil derivatives in an eastern Amman area in a bid to secure the Kingdom a strategic reserve of fuel.
The project, which comes under funding from the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, will entail the construction of storage facilities at a capacity of 340,000 tons of oil derivatives in addition to 10,000 tons of liquefied petroleum gas.
The prime minister thanked the United Arab Emirates for its generous support of the $174-million project, hoping that the Arab Gulf nation extends further financial assistance to projects the Jordanian government is currently developing.
The venture, constructed on a 400,000-sqmm plot of land, is set to be completed by November of 2016.
The prime minister said the government set aside 18 per cent of a $5-billion assistance package by the Arab Gulf Cooperation Council to Jordan for energy projects. He referred to a Kuwait-funded liquefied natural gas terminal in the port city of Aqaba which was launched in June in addition to a $32-million liquefied petroleum gas funded by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development and was launched in February.
The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development has also extended $150 million to finance the establishment of a 100-megawatt solar power venture in southern Jordan. The premier also noted an 80-megawatt wind power project that is funded by Kuwait.
All of these projects, Ensour said, will leave a positive and tangible social and economic impact in the Kingdom and will further enhance the nation’s energy security in addition to creating job opportunities.
