CAIRO, 7 June 2004 — The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted a loan of 100 million euros ($122 million) to Egypt’s state-run natural gas holding company (EGAS) to finance pipeline construction in Jordan, an EIB official said yesterday. EIB Vice President Philippe de Fontaine Vive said attending the signing ceremony here Saturday was EGAS President Mohammed Tawila, Jordanian Energy Minister Azmi Khreissat and Egyptian Petroleum Minister Sameh Fahmi. The loan will allow the construction of a pipeline of 292 kilometers (183 miles) to channel Egyptian natural gas from Jordan’s southern port of Aqaba to a new power generating plant in Rihaba, in northern Jordan, by 2006.