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ISRAEL-EGYPT-ENERGY-GAS
Israel, Egypt agree to build new gas pipeline
JERUSALEM, Feb 22, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Israel and Egypt’s energy ministers
agreed Sunday to build a gas pipeline from the offshore eastern Mediterranean
Leviathan field to Egypt, aimed at boosting exports to Europe, an Israeli
source said.
Yuval Steinitz and his Egyptian counterpart Tarek El Molla “agreed on the
construction of offshore gas pipeline from the Leviathan gas field to the
liquefaction facilities in Egypt,” the official said, asking not to be named.
The goal was “to increase the gas exports to Europe through the
liquefaction facilities in Egypt, in light of the growing demand in Europe
for natural gas,” he added.
The deal was announced as Molla visited Israel, where he also met Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi as well as
Steinitz.
The energy ministers and their teams met “in order to enlarge and to
increase the cooperation in energy,” Molla said in a video released by
Steinitz’s office.
Leviathan, discovered 130 kilometres (81 miles) west of the Mediterranean
port city Haifa in 2010, is estimated to hold 535 billion cubic metres (18.9
trillion cubic feet) of natural gas, along with 34.1 million barrels of
condensate.
US-based Noble and Israel’s Delek, the consortium leading the development
of the Leviathan and the smaller Tamar field, struck a $15 billion 10-year
deal last year with Egypt’s Dolphinus to supply 64 billion cubic metres (2.26
trillion cubic feet).
Israel began pumping gas from Leviathan in December 2019 and exporting to
Egypt the following month.
BSS/AFP/MSY/0927 hrs