REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, AMMAN -- Jordan's parliament on Wednesday called on the government to cancel a planned gas deal with Israel and to look for other alternatives to buy the natural gas, the state-run Petra news agency reported.

During a session on Wednesday, lawmakers urged the government to go ahead with plans to buy the gas from Qatar, according to the report.

However, Jordanian Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour said that the cost of the Qatari gas is as twice as that of Israel's.

Several protests erupted in Jordan over the last few weeks calling on the government not to sign the deal which was scheduled to be inked in November but was postponed.

Earlier this week, Jordan's Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Mohammad Hamed said the National Electric Power Company signed a letter of intent with Noble Energy to buy gas from Israeli fields.

Under the agreement that is yet to be signed, the U.S. company is to provide the Jordanian power company with 300 million cubic feet of gas per day for a period of 15 years, at a cost of 15 billion U.S. dollars.

Jordan imports annually approximately 97 percent of its energy needs.

Ikuti Whatsapp Channel Republika