Jordan's 2008 crude oil bill up 45 percent in 11 months

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

AMMAN, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Jordan's crude oil bill climbed 45 percent
during the January-November period of 2008, reaching 1,863million Jordanian
dinars (about 2,631 million U.S. dollars), said the Department of Statistics.

The bill registered 1,281 million dinars during the same period of 2007,
the department's official figures shows.

According to the official figures, the diesel bill rose by 9.4 percent to
209 million dinars in the 11 months period in 2008, compared to 109 million
dinars during the same period the previous year.

However, in November 2008 alone, the bill went down by 61 percent due to a
drop in oil prices on the international level.

Unlike its oil-rich neighbors, Jordan faces grave energy challenges as it
lacks conventional energy resources, with scarcity of water.

Currently, about 96 percent of the country's energy needs were met by
imports from neighboring states, at a cost of some 20 percent of its gross
domestic products. (1 U.S. dollar=0.708 dinar)