Energy Minister Khalid Touqan told an emergency cabinet session that Jordan would have to resort to heavy fuel in the generation of power to make up for the loss of the Egyptian gas supplies.

“The cabinet discussed the steps that should be taken to address the additional burdens on the Treasury as well as moving swiftly to find alternative resources for boosting the country’s reserves of fuel and oil derivatives,” a statement from the premier’s office said.

The government said that it was establishing contacts with “brotherly and friendly countries to ensure supplying Jordan with the necessary quantities of energy.”

Touqan pointed out that resorting to heavy fuel for the generation of electricity would tangibly enhance the financial burdens of the already cash-strapped Jordan which imports almost all its energy requirements from GCC states, particularly Saudi Arabia.

The surging oil prices over the past few months threatened to enlarge the country’s budget deficit, which exceeded two billion dollars in 2010.

The budget gap exacerbated when the government failed to raise fuel prices to avert more protests that swept the country in the past four months, finding inspiration from the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.

Jordanian officials visited Gulf states recently in an apparent effort to muster financial aid to help plug the budget deficit.

Wednesday’s explosion in the Egyptian gas pipeline, the second in two months, gave the impression that the gas supplies from Egypt could be unreliable in the short term, energy experts said.

Under an agreement concluded in 2001, Egypt pledged to supply Jordan with natural gas supplies for 15 years at fixed prices through a pipeline that travels northward to supply Syria and Lebanon with gas.