By Espen Barth Eide, Anja Kaspersen | WEF Agenda Blog Tuesday, 14 July 2015 One in every three barrels of exported crude petroleum still comes from the Middle East. Yet significant shifts in this sector are transforming the geopolitical equation of oil in the region: • The U.S. is not as reliant on the region […]

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Osama Habib| The Daily Star BEIRUT: A senior U.S. official said that Washington would continue its efforts to end the row between Lebanon and Israel over a maritime zone believed to contain large quantities of natural gas. “Based upon my ongoing discussions with both sides I believe that both Lebanon and Israel wish to resolve […]

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By Mohammad Ghazal – Jul 14,2015 – Last updated at Jul 14,2015 AMMAN — No progress is expected this year between Jordan and Noble Energy to import natural gas from Israel, according to Jamal Gammoh, head of the Lower House Energy Committee. “After signing the letter of intent last year between the National Electric Power […]

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By JT – Jul 12,2015 – Last updated at Jul 12,2015 AMMAN —Jordan’s energy crisis has had its most profound impact on public debt, which rose from less than 60 per cent of the gross domestic product in 2009 to over 80 per cent of the GDP by 2014, according to a report. In its […]

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By Petra – Jul 16,2015 – Last updated at Jul 16,2015 AMMAN — Labour Ministry Secretary General Hamadah Abu Nijmeh on Thursday inaugurated the first phase of the solar cells project that was set up and activated at the ministry’s main building earlier this month. Abu Nijmeh said that the project is a response to […]

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By JT – Jul 13,2015 – Last updated at Jul 13,2015 AMMAN — The Kuwaiti Fund for Arab Economic Development and the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development have agreed to the increase in the total generating capacity for the projects of the wind energy in Maan and solar cells in Quweirah to 180 megawatts (MW), […]

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By Khetam Malkawi – Jul 14,2015 – Last updated at Jul 14,2015 AMMAN — France has just validated a new soft loan of $265 million to Jordan to implement three major water and energy projects, French Ambassador to the Kingdom Caroline Dumas announced on Monday. Of this amount, Dumas said 150 million euros ($167 million) […]

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AMMAN — HRH Crown Prince Hussein, the Regent, on Sunday inaugurated the Mujib Dam Water Conveyance Project that is going to channel water from the dam to Karak, 140km south of Amman. The project, which cost JD11 million funded by a grant from the Kuwaiti Fund for Arab Economic Development, will enhance water supply to […]

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By Hana Namrouqa – Jul 14,2015 AMMAN — Authorities have discovered several violations on the water network in the Amman, Ajloun and Balqa governorates, under which a total of 15,000 cubic metres of water were being stolen daily, a government official said on Monday. The violations, which were discovered this week, entailed digging illegal wells […]

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By Hana Namrouqa – Jul 15,2015 – Last updated at Jul 15,2015 AMMAN — The Ministry of Water and Irrigation has invited proposals for providing technical, legal, financial and transactional consulting services for the tendering of the first phase of the Red Sea-Dead Sea Water Conveyance Project (Red-Dead). “Under the request for proposal, the ministry […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 07/09/2015 “The army does not carry out enforcement, and is even irritated by such enforcement,” says Environmental Protection deputy director for enforcement. An Environmental Protection Ministry official accused the IDF on Wednesday of being the country’s top environmental offender. “The IDF today is the biggest environmental wrongdoer in Israel,” Yitzhak Ben-David, the […]

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By Hana Namrouqa – Jul 09,2015 – Last updated at Jul 09,2015 A farm and a swimming pool that were utilising water stolen from water mains via illegal fixtures (Photo courtesy of Water Ministry) AMMAN — In the first ruling ever in the history of the water sector, the Amman Court of First Instance has […]

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AMMAN — After three years of experiments, the University of Jordan (UJ) has succeeded in using the jojoba shrub to generate biofuel. In a joint research project, the university’s renewable energy and chemical engineering departments have developed an oil extraction machine to produce biofuel from the shrub, according to a UJ statement sent to The […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 07/09/2015 Three Haifa Bay plants showed unacceptably high air pollution emissions levels. The Environmental Protection Ministry issued indictments on Thursday against three factories owned by Israel Oil Refineries Ltd., also known as the Bazan Group, citing numerous air pollution and toxic waste treatment violations between 2010 and 2013. Measurements taken at the […]

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By Mohammad Ghazal – Jul 06,2015 – Last updated at Jul 07,2015 Electricity theft costs the Kingdom about JD60 million annually (JT file photo) AMMAN — A campaign started on Monday to raise awareness about dangers of electricity theft and the need to combat the phenomenon, which costs the Kingdom about JD60 million annually. The […]

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By Hana Namrouqa – Jul 07,2015 – Last updated at Jul 07,2015 Solar panels installed on the rooftop of the Water Ministry in Shmeisani (Photo courtesy of Water Ministry) AMMAN — The Ministry of Water and Irrigation headquarters in Shmeisani will start running on solar energy within two months to reduce its electricity bill by […]

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Philip Issa| The Daily Star BEIRUT: When demonstrators closed the road to the Naameh landfill in 2014, they captured the public’s attention like few others ever have: For a week, trash piled up along Beirut’s streets and fouled the city’s damp, winter air. With the Cabinet not revealing any plans to manage waste in Beirut […]

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Philip Issa| The Daily Star BEIRUT: Municipalities around the overflowing Naameh landfill fear the government will not close the site by July 17, as the Cabinet promised earlier this year. The prospect has raised the specter of a sit-in in front of the landfill, forcing trash to pile up in the streets of Beirut and […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 07/08/2015 Entrance to the bypass road is open in both directions, with travel limited to a 50-km. per hour speed and regulated by four traffic circles. As the country’s Dead Sea region prepares for an influx of tourists this summer, a new road opened on Wednesday night to bypass sinkholes in the […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 07/06/2015 A Knesset Economic Affairs Committee discussion on Monday devolved numerous times into a shouting match among opposition MKs, government officials and gas company representatives. A Knesset Economic Affairs Committee discussion on Monday regarding the recently published natural gas outline devolved numerous times into a shouting match among opposition MKs, government officials […]

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