Allegations of corruption over oil exploration agreement in Jordan

An agreement between Jordan and Korea to explore for oil in Wadi Araba is under threat due to allegations of corruptions and bribery.

MENA

2 min read

Zaid al-Dabisiyyeh

11 March, 2015

The agreement is to explore for oil in a 7,000km area if Wadi Araba [Getty]

An agreement recently signed between the Jordanian government and a Korean oil developer to explore and develop a vast oil field in Jordan's Wadi Araba is mired in corruption, according to a member of the Jordanian Parliament.

The agreement appears shaky after MP Ali al-Khalalye argued during the Jordanian parliament's weekly meeting yesterday that the Korean company, Korea Global Corporation, deals with financial services not oil exploration. Khalalye also said the company had bribed him to endorse the agreement.

Parliamentarians called for the case to be referred to the general prosecutor for further investigation.

A final decision on the agreement was not made during the meeting. Instead, parliamentarians called for the case to be referred to the general prosecutor for further investigation.

Speaking to al-Araby al-Jadeed, Jamal Qammuh, head of the Jordanian parliament's energy committee said the committee had advised against signing the agreement to explore the 7,000 km area near the Dead Sea.

Jordan began exploring for oil in 1966 and has stepped up operations in the past few years. This reflects an increase in efforts over the past decade to overcome its energy problem which has depleted the economy and increased its debts that reached nearly $30 billion by the end of February, according to official data.

These debts are the result of high energy bills and the government-owned electricity company's losses that are as high as $7 billion.

This article is an edited translation from our Arabic edition.