Israel and Egypt reach agreement over ‘underwater gas pipeline’

Jerusalem: – Egypt and Israel have come to agreement over underwater gas pipeline to link natural gas supply from the Leviathan Gas Field to LNG plants in Egypt. The meeting regarding this was held in the presence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This pipeline is believed to be an extension of the EastMed Pipeline between Israel and the European countries. The Egyptian Energy Minister’s visit to Israel for this purpose is the first visit of an Egyptian Minister to Israel in the last five years.

Prime Minister Netanyahu welcomed the agreement on the pipeline project by saying that a new era of peace and prosperity has started in this region because of the Abraham agreement. This important day is a symbol of the glorious era. All this has started with the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt. Now, this will benefit for the improvement in the economic status of the entire population in this region. The Israeli Prime Minister assured that Leviathan Gas Field has enough reserves for fulfil the needs of both Israel and Egypt. Moreover, it has more gas to supply to other countries.

Egyptian Energy Minister Tarek Al Molla also expressed satisfaction over the underwater gas pipeline proposal. The Egyptian Energy Minister clarified that talks are being consistently held between Egypt and Israel regarding fuel issues and we are working to strengthen the ties. He pointed out that it was only because of the good relations between the two countries, a project like the EastMed Gas Forum could be started. Egypt is becoming the centre for the export of natural gas and the pipeline with Israel is considered to be a vital stage.

The Leviathan Gas Field, located 130 kilometres from the Israel coast was discovered in 2010. It is said that there are massive gas reserves of 22 trillion cubic feet of gas in this region. This has become the biggest and decisive gas field discovery for Israel. Alongside the supply to the Israeli population, the gas from this gas field is exported also to Jordan and Egypt. But Israel is keen on going beyond that to increase its supply to the European countries. It is being predicted that this underwater gas pipeline could be the beginning in that direction. Last year, Israel and the United Arab Emirates signed a historic agreement to use the Elliot Ashkelon pipeline, joining the Mediterranean Sea through the Red Sea. Before that, Israel also signed the EastMed pipeline agreement to supply natural gas to Europe through Greece and Cyprus.